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Alex Eala sent packing by Tatjana Maria in Madrid Open first round

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Rosy Mina

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Alex Eala of the Philippines. 2023 Thailand Open" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/04/26/01-alex-eala-of-the-philippines-2023-thailand-open.jpg"/><figcaption>Alex Eala of the Philippines. <em>2023 Thailand Open</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA – Filipino wildcard Alexandra “Alex” Eala suffered a 1-6, 1-6 defeat against 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria of Germany in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain. </p><p>It was the second loss of the 17-year-old to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) World No. 66 following her 2-6, 2-6 opening ouster from the Thailand Open in January.</p><p>In the first match on Court 5 of Caja Mágica on Wednesday, Eala and Maria exchanged service breaks until the 35-year-old German broke again to lead at 2-1.</p><p>Three-time WTA titlist Maria fought off break points and firmly held serve for a 3-1 lead after going back and forth at deuce with the reigning US Open Juniors winner and World No. 267.</p><p>As she was serving to stay in the set at 1-5, Eala reached 30-0 but was broken for the fourth time on Maria’s first set point, 1-6.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/24/23/eala-gets-rematch-with-wimbledon-semifinalist-in-madrid-open">Wildcard Alex Eala gets rematch with Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria in Madrid Open</a></li></ul><p>In the second set, Maria zoomed to 3-0 with a forehand crosscourt passing shot fired at 40-30.</p><p>Eala managed to win the fourth game, 1-3, after her opponent hit a forehand long.</p><p>Maria quickly recovered with a love service hold, then broke once more to serve for the match at 5-1.</p><p>The German went on to earn three match points, one of which Eala saved via a forehand overhead winner.</p><p>Maria then forced a backhand volley error from the Filipino teenager to conclude the match at 6-1.</p><p>The German ace will clash with 28th seed and World No. 32 Bernarda Pera of the United States in the second round.</p><p>Eala, a two-time International Tennis Federation (ITF) singles champion, debuted at the Madrid Open last year as a qualifying wild card recipient who lost in the first round to 11th seed Anna Bondar of Hungary.</p><p>The Rafa Nadal Academy (RNA) player made her maiden main draw appearance this year after receiving a wild card for the 21st edition of the Spanish WTA 1000 and ATP Masters 1000 event.</p><p>Spotted at the player’s box on Wednesday beside Eala’s father, Mike, was RNA Head of Academy Toni Nadal, the uncle and former coach of 22-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/23/23/alex-ealas-2023-goals-wta-tour-and-senior-high-graduation">Alex Eala&#x27;s 2023 goals: WTA Tour and senior high graduation</a></li></ul><p>Alex has been training at RNA in Nadal’s hometown of Mallorca since 2018 after she and her older brother, Miko, were awarded scholarships.</p><p>Miko, 20, is now playing in the United States NCAA Division 1 for Pennsylvania State University. </p><p>The two-time ITF juniors singles winner made his debut on the ITF Men’s Tennis Tour in 2022.</p><p>Alex, the girls’ doubles winner at the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 Roland Garros, is set to graduate from senior high school in June.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2229672" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div><br/> </div>

Alex Eala suffered a 1-6, 1-6 defeat against 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria of Germany in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open. 