Camille Naredo

Philippines' Alexandra Eala serves to Poland's Iga Swiatek during their 2025 WTA Tour Madrid Open tennis tournament second round singles match at the Caja Magica in Madrid, on April 24, 2025. Thomas Coex, AFP/File

Philippines' Alexandra Eala serves to Poland's Iga Swiatek during their 2025 WTA Tour Madrid Open tennis tournament second round singles match at the Caja Magica in Madrid, on April 24, 2025. (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP)

Article (news)

TENNIS

Dyan Castillejo

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1749005861450AFP__20250424__43DA9B2__v1__HighRes__TennisWtaEspMadridOpen.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Philippines&#x27; Alexandra Eala serves to Poland&#x27;s Iga Swiatek during their 2025 WTA Tour Madrid Open tennis tournament second round singles match at the Caja Magica in Madrid, on April 24, 2025. Thomas Coex, AFP/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Philippines&#x27; Alexandra Eala serves to Poland&#x27;s Iga Swiatek during their 2025 WTA Tour Madrid Open tennis tournament second round singles match at the Caja Magica in Madrid, on April 24, 2025. <em>Thomas Coex, AFP/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>(<strong>UPDATED</strong>) Filipina tennis star Alex Eala put up a valiant fight but ultimately fell short against Czech world No. 152 Linda Fruhvirtova, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-1, in a grueling first-round match in the Birmingham Open as part of her grass-court campaign leading up to Wimbledon.</p><p>Fruhvirtova struck early, breaking Eala’s serve to take a 2-0 lead in the opening set.</p><p>The third-seeded Eala responded with determination, fighting off a potential double break and narrowing the gap to 1-2. The 20-year-old from Manila showed flashes of brilliance, even edging ahead 3-2 at one point, but Fruhvirtova’s consistency kept the match level.</p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1929905229501477006&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-06-03T21%3A06%3A45.904609%3Ab46a9fa0-ebc0-467c-a0a0-6cc310a92295%26action%3Dedit&amp;sessionId=01880456b0540058b2822e93024e3aa2bcd4acf0&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:550px;height:802px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="1929905229501477006"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><div><br/></div><p>The two traded games in a tight battle, reaching 4-all and then 5-all.</p><p>The Czech eventually edged ahead 6-5 and, despite Eala earning a break point, held her nerve to close out the first set, 7-5.</p><p>Eala regrouped in the second set, coming out strong to secure a 2-0 lead.</p><p>Fruhvirtova, however, refused to go away, leveling the score at 2-2, then 3-3, and continuing to match Eala .</p><p>The set remained on serve all the way to a tiebreak, where Eala dug deep and won it 7-5, forcing a deciding set after more than two and a half hours of play.</p><p>In the third set, Fruhvirtova seized momentum early. From 1-all, she went on a dominant run, winning five straight games to close the match in just under three hours.</p><p>Despite the loss, Eala’s grit and competitiveness were on full display. The match marked a strong test ahead of her highly anticipated main draw debut at Wimbledon 2025, which begins on June 30.</p><p>She is scheduled to compete in more grass-court tournaments in the UK in the coming weeks to fine-tune her game and gain further experience on the surface.</p>

<p>Filipina tennis star Alex Eala put up a valiant fight but ultimately fell short against Czech world No. 152 Linda Fruhvirtova in a grueling first-round match as part of her grass-court campaign leading up to Wimbledon.</p>

Filipina tennis star Alex Eala put up a valiant fight but ultimately fell short against Czech world No. 152 Linda Fruhvirtova in a grueling first-round match as part of her grass-court campaign leading up to Wimbledon.

Eala falls in 3-set battle vs Fruhvirtova in Wimbledon lead-up

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Eala falls in 3-set battle vs Fruhvirtova in Wimbledon lead-up

Dyan Castillejo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jun 04, 2025 06:16 AM PHT

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Updated Jun 04, 2025 10:59 AM PHT

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alex eala

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Linda Fruhvirtova

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