Alex Eala shown quarters exit by Thai rival in Japan tourney
MANILA, Philippines – For the good part of the last two years, Alex Eala has been the best player in Southeast Asia as evidenced by her performance in the professional tour and her ascent in the world rankings.
That evidently is no longer the case.
In a quarterfinal encounter between the two highest ranked players in the region, Alex Eala suffered a crushing defeat to Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, in the ITF W100 Takasaki International Open on Friday, November 22, at the Shimizu Zenzo Memorial Tennis Courts in Japan.
Eala peaked at a career-high 143 in the world rankings earlier this year, but has since dropped to her current ranking of 163.
Sawangkaew overtook Eala in the world rankings as the Thai is now at 139. The 22-year-old’s career-high world ranking is 133 which she achieved just over a week ago.
The third-seeded Sawangkaew validated her claim to the title of the best Southeast Asian in the world right now, overcoming a first-set loss by dominating a fading Eala in the second and third sets.
Eala, seeded fifth, actually got off to a solid start, leading the entire time in the first set after opening a 2-0 lead.
The 19-year-old Eala managed to fend off repeated rallies by her Thai rival as the Filipina pocketed the opener after a grueling 49-minute battle.
Sawangkaew eventually started to reap the dividends of her persistence, needing just 29 minutes in the second set and another 37 minutes in the third set to finish off Eala, who was plagued by six double faults the entire match.
Both Eala and Sawangkaew played two matches on Friday after weather conditions washed out the tournament’s Wednesday schedule.
In the round of 16, Eala was still able to labor through a three-setter despite committing nine double faults to defeat 18-year-old Japanese wildcard and world No. 799 Hayu Kinoshita, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
Sawangkaew, on the other hand, made short work of 25-year-old world No. 449 Malene Helgo of Norway, 6-2, 6-3.
Eala will take a respite from the pro tour next week as she is set to lead the Philippine team in its return to the Billie Jean King Cup, which will be hosted by Bahrain.
The teen standout will banner the Philippine women’s team that also features Marian Capadocia, Khim Iglupas, and Shaira Rivera, with longtime national team member Denise Dy as the non-playing captain. – Rappler.com