By Jean Malanum
MANILA – Filipina tennis ace Alexandra Eala ended her US Open campaign with a 4-6, 3-6 loss to Spanish Cristina Bucsa in the second round early Thursday morning (Manila time) at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York.
Eala, ranked 75th in the world, survived world No. 14 Carla Tauson of Denmark, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11), in the first round on Aug. 25.
Meanwhile, Bucsa hit 25 winners and served three aces to conquer Eala in one hour and 22 minutes.
The world No. 95 Bucsa won 65 percent of first serve points and 28 percent of second serve points.
She will now face the winner between No. 19 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium and Lulu Sun of New Zealand in the third round.
Eala’s 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11) win over world No. 14 Carla Tauson of Denmark last Tuesday made her the first Filipino to advance to the second round of a Grand Slam tournament.
At the Miami Open last March, Eala defeated Grand Slam champions – Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, American Madison Keys, and Polish Iga Swiatek to reach the semifinal round, eventually losing to American Jessica Pegula, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 3-6.
Eala, a graduate of the Rafael Nadal Academy, won the US Open junior girls’ singles title in 2022. (PNA)
