Eala loses to lower-ranked foe, exits Strasbourg Open

Sports

THE struggles on the clay court continued for Alex Eala as she bowed to Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, in the opening round of the Strasbourg Open in France on Monday, May 18.

Eala was initially listed in the qualifiers but got a huge break when she was elevated to the main draw.

Against an opponent who is ranked 28 rungs lower than her, the 20-year-old Eala looked sharp early and dominated in the opening set.

Eala, ranked No. 38 in the world, suddenly lost steam, allowing Oliynykova to pull even with a tight second-set victory. The world No. 66 Oliynykova sustained the momentum, outplaying Eala in the third set to seal the victory in two hours and 52 minutes.

Eala actually took a 3-2 lead in the third set but that proved to be her last hurrah as Oliynykova pulled away to book a seat in Round of 16 where she will take on eighth seed Marie Bouzkova .

“It was an amazing match. In one moment in the third set when it was 3-all and very close, I just fought for every point and just told myself that I can relax because tennis already won and I can be proud of this match and maybe this is something that would help me play more freely in the end and make this three wins in a row to win,” Oliynykova said in a televised interview.

It was another empty run for Eala following early exits in Linz, Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome. Next up for her is the French Open slated late this month.(CCM)