Alex Eala crashed out early in the Roland Garros Girls Singles after absorbing a first-round 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1 upset defeat to unseeded Matilda Mutavdzic of Great Britain Monday night, June 7.
Eala, seeded second in the tournament, fought tooth and nail to forge a deciding third set but lost steam later on in the match that lasted 2 hours and 33 minutes.
The 16-year-old Filipino bet almost succumbed in the second frame when she squandered a 5-1 lead to 5-5, but held her composure at the tiebreak by crawling from a 4-1 deficit.
But it proved to be Eala’s last stand as Mutavdzic controlled the third-set tempo, breaking the Filipina’s serve in the third game en route to the victory.
This was Eala’s earliest exit in the main draw of the Grand Slams, shattering her bid to eclipse her semifinal finish last year.
Despite the early singles loss, Eala is tipped to compete in the Girls Doubles with Russian partner Oksana Selekhmeteva where they are the top seeds in the field.
Eala and Selekhmeteva will face Belarus’ Evialina Laskevich and Russia’s Alina Shcherbinina in the first round.