ALEX EALA’S bid in the Hong Kong Open is off to a sputtering start as she and Taiwanese partner Chan Hao-ching got the boot early in the women’s doubles on Monday night.
Mses. Eala and Chan took the opening set but failed to sustain the charge and yielded a 6-3, 1-6, 7-10 defeat to Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Russian Kamilla Rakhimova.
The three-set stinger came as a dampener as the Filipina ace soared to a new career high of 51 in the WTA rankings just hours before the Round-of-16 encounter.
No time to dwell on this, the 20-year-old netter quickly shifted focus to the singles play, determined more than ever to make a deep run in the event.
Ms. Eala was slated to battle British Katie Boulter in her Round-of-32 opener on Tuesday. — Olmin Leyba
