Alex Eala faltered in long-drawn matches as she bowed out of the second round in both events of the 2021 Wimbledon Junior Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London.
Eala, 16, squandered a strong start and eventually lost to 17-year-old Mintegi Del Olmo of Spain, 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, in the singles tournament on Thursday night, July 8 (Manila time).
The second seeded Eala overcame late double faults to take the opening set then erased a 0-4 deficit in the second only to fall against her unseeded foe.
Eala once again came from behind to snag a 5-4 advantage in the third set but Del Olmo dug deep to outlast the young Filipino tennis star.
The Rafael Nadal Academy standout failed to sustain the momentum from her 6-2, 6-4 victory over Solana Sierra of Argentina in the first round.
Hours later in the second round of the doubles event, Eala and Indonesian partner Priska Madelyn Nugroho's comeback came up short as they yielded to Ashlyn Krueger of USA and Chelsea Fontenel of Switzerland, 4-6, 6-4, 9-11.
Coming off defeats in the singles tilt, the reigning Australian Open doubles champions sparked a comeback to force a deciding third set.
The Asian pair seized the match point at 9-7 but unfortunately ran out of steam in the closing stretch as they surrendered four straight points to Krueger and Fontenel.
It was a disappointing turn of events for Eala and Nugroho who showed utter dominance in thrashing Valencia Xu of USA and Erika Matsuda of Japan, 6-0, 6-0, in the opening round.