ALEX EALA, PARTNER KASINTSEVA FAIL TO SECURE SEMIS SLOT IN W25 MADRID DOUBLES
Filipino teen ace Alex Eala and partner Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva lost to American Ashley Lahey and Australian Olivia Tjandramulia, 7-5, 4-6, 10-6, in the ITF $25,000 Madrid tournament.
After sweeping No. 2 seed of American Robin Anderson and Bulgaria’s Isabelle Shinikova in the opening round, Eala and doubles partner Kasintseva failed to advance in the semi-finals.
In the opening salvo, Eala and International Tennis Federation (ITF) girls world No. 1 Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra managed a 3-0 lead, however, this backfired as Lahey and Tjandramulia blew off with four straight games to take the lead, 4-3.
Come 6-5 in the opening set the American and Australian at the lead, the Filipino and Andorran failed to bounce back, 7-5, with a return of serve error.
After losing the opening set in an extended fashion, Eala, 16, and Jimenez Kasintseva, 15, managed to rebound from a 3-1 deficit with three straight games to go up 5-3 and even the match.
Lahey, 24, and Tjandramulia, 21, caught up at 5-4 but Eala and Jimenez Kasintseva then pulled off another break to take the second set, 6-4.
Come the deciding round, the Filipino-Andorran duo were neck-and-neck with the American-Australian tandem who unleashed a 3-0 lead but the latter overtook them at 5-4. At 5-5, Lahey and Tjandramulia secured the next four points at 9-5.
Eala and Jimenez Kasintseva managed to close the gap by scoring a point, 9-6, but this was followed by Lahey and Tjandramulia to bag the match at 10-6.
The Filipina netter played her second game of the day after she bowed out of the singles event.