MANILA -- Alex Eala's second round clash against American Varvara Lepchenko at the Guadalajara 125 Open was suspended due to rain early morning on Thursday (Manila time).
At the time of the stoppage, the Filipino tennis star was ahead in the deciding set, 6-7, (3-7) 7-6, (7-3) 3-2.
The match had been a roller-coaster affair, with the 20-year-old Eala dropping the opening set in a tiebreak after a wild sequence late.
Serving at 5-4, she fought through four deuces, came back from 15-40 down, and even earned two set points. But Lepchenko, a left-hander like Eala, dug deep to level at 5-all before eventually edging the set in the tiebreak.
In the second set, both players continued to trade heavy shots with Lepchenko breaking ahead at 5-4 after holding two clutch first serves at deuce.
Eala then took home the second set 7-6 to level the match at one set apiece.
The deciding set was tightly contested before play was halted due to weather conditions in Guadalajara.
Lepchenko, currently ranked No. 122 in the world, once reached a career-high of No. 19 in October 2012 and owns a 24-24 win-loss record for the year so far.
This is the first career meeting between the two players on the WTA Tour.
The match will resume tomorrow not before 12 noon in Guadalajara (2 a.m. Manila time).