
Alex Eala and Belgian Hanne Vandewinkel fell short in their bid in the US Open Girls Doubles after yielding in the semifinals Saturday.
Eala and Vandewinkel, seeded sixth in the tournament, succumbed to eighth-seeded Americans Elvina Kalieva and Reese Brantmeier, 5-7, 6-2, 10-7, after 69 minutes.
The loss only came a few hours after Eala and Vandewinkel played their quarterfinal match and prevailed over American tandem Elizabeth Coleman and Madison Sieg, 6-1, 6-7 (4,), 10-7.
Eala and Vandewinkel showed grit and poise despite the tight schedule, but slowly lost steam at the start of the second set.
The Filipina-Belgian duo briefly showed signs of life in the tiebreak when they led 3-2, but Kalieva and Brantmeier were quick to recover and won three straight points to regain their momentum en route to the match win.
Eala was shooting for a third Grand Slam Girls Doubles victory after winning the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 French Open with different partners.
Still, the semifinal finish was an improvement from her second-round finish in the 2019 edition. Incidentally, she was partnered with Kalieva two years ago.