After singles exit, Eala also bows out of Aussie Open doubles

Sports

ALEX Eala’s campaign in the Australian Open turned out to be brief.

After a first-round exit in the singles, Eala also could not make it far in the doubles as she and Brazilian partner Ingrid Martins bowed to Magda Linette and Shuko Aoyama, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 3-6, in their opening-round duel on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

The doubles loss came a day after Eala lost to American Alycia Parks in the singles match.

Eala and Martins looked good early, racing to a 4-0 lead and building a 5-3 cushion in the opening set. The duo suddenly lost steam as Linette and Aoyama showed nerves of steel to steal the first-set win.

Eala and Martins dominated the second set but the experienced duo of Linette and Aoyama proved too much in the deciding set to come away with the convincing win.

Linette reached the doubles semifinals in the 2021 French Open while Aoyama was a semifinalist in the 2023 Australian Open doubles.

With her campaign in Australia now over, Eala is heading home to see action in next week’s WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open slated at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.(CCM)