Filipina tennis player Alex Eala at the 19th Asian Games. Handout/POC-PSC Media Pool/File
MANILA -- Filipina tennis player Alex Eala on Tuesday bowed out of the qualifiers for the 2025 Australian Open after losing to Croatia's Jana Fett in the first round.
The unseeded Eala absorbed a 5-7, 2-6 loss to fall short of advancing.
READ: Alex Eala exits Canberra with first WTA125 semis appearance
Eala recovered from a 2-5 deficit in the opening set to force a 5-5 deadlock, but Fett broke her serve to regain the advantage.
Three consecutive errors doomed Eala in the closing stretch of the set, giving Fett the win and the momentum.
The 28-year-old Fett, ranked 134th by the WTA, will now play Austria's Sinja Kraus in the second round of the qualifiers while it's back to the drawing board for Eala.
The Filipina had opened the year by reaching the semifinals of the Canberra International. -- from a report by Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News