Philippines's Alexandra Eala reacts after a point as she plays against US Iva Jovic during their women's singles match on day 3 of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on May 26, 2026. Alain Jocard, AFP
MANILA -- The tandem of Alex Eala and WTA No. 69 Nikola Bartunkova made an early exit in the doubles draw of the Birmingham Open after bowing to the pair of Harriet Dart and Maia Lumsden in a thriller.
The second-seeded wild cards scored a 6-4, 2-6, 11-9 victory, turning back the Filipino-Czech pair in a marathon match.
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Eala and Bartunkova raced to a commanding 4-0 advantage before Dart and Lumsden found their footing and surged ahead, 5-4, eventually closing out the opener.
The second set saw Eala and Bartunkova turn the tables, pulling away for a 5-2 advantage before holding to love to send the match to a tiebreak.
The pairs traded points evenly at 2-2, 3-3, and then 4-4, before Eala and Bartunkova briefly seized a 6-4 advantage.
However, the match was far from over as Dart and Lumsden recovered 6-all to bring it to 8-all and eventually win 11-9.
In a match that lasted 1 hour and 28 minutes, Eala and Bartunkova saw two aces, no double faults and 62 total points made with 4 of 6 break points won.
The Filipina tennis star will now gear up for her singles match against Priscilla Hon.
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