AFTER early exits in her recent tournaments, the latest being the opening-round setback in the Lexus Birmingham Open, Alex Eala fell four rungs to No. 77 in the latest Women’s Tennis Association world ratings posted last Monday.
Since zooming to an all-time high of No. 69, Eala, 20, had had the misfortune of suffering short-lived appearances in the last few meets, typified by her shock 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 1-6 setback to Czech Linda Fruhvirtova, ranked No. 138, in the women’s singles first round of the last meet where she was the top seed.
In a team-up with Swiss Beka Masarova, the Pinay southpaw also fell 4-6, 4- 6 to the Australian pair of Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez in the opening round of the same tournament.
As the top seed anew in the WTA 125 Lexus Ilkley Open, Eala hoped to regain lost ground last night when she was scheduled to play Filipino-Australian Lizette Cabrera, No. 206 in the world, in the first round of the meet staged at the 145-year-old Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club in the metropolitan English town of West Yorkshire.
