KRISTEL SATUMBAGA

Thursday was a bad day for rising tennis star Alex Eala in Spain as she dropped her two matches, including her singles event in the round of 16 at W25+H Palma del Rio.

Eala gave everything she had but her best was not enough, suffering a 6-2, 6-1 defeat to second seeded Jessika Ponchet of France.

As if it was not enough, she and doubles partner Marina Bassols Ribera lost to top seeded rivals Valeria Savinykh and Hungary’s Fanni Stollar, 6-2, 6-0, in the semis.

Eala had no answer to Ponchet’s vast repertoire of shots though she did persevere.

Their doubles rivals were also too tough to crack as they fired on all cylinders to dominate the match.

Prior to her singles defeat, Eala showed grit by routing Chilean Jimar Geraldine Gerald Gonzalez, 6-2, 6-0.

She and Ribera, who were seeded fourth in the field, also cruised to victories against Spaniards Adriana Cortes and Patricia Rodriguez Carretero, 6-0, 6-0, as well as Spain’s Marta Gonzalez Encinas and United States’ Ashley Lahey, 6-1, 6-3, before losing to Savinykh and Stollar.