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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Alex Eala falls to Swiss rival in Suzhou quarterfinals

Alex Eala falls to Swiss rival in Suzhou quarterfinals

Published Oct 3, 2025 12:53 pm

At A Glance

  • Alex Eala failed to sustain her hot start and fell to lower-ranked Viktorija Golubic, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (0), in the quarterfinals of the Suzhou Tennis Open on Friday, Oct. 3 in China.
Alex Eala. (File Photo/AP)
Alex Eala. (File Photo/AP)
Alex Eala failed to sustain her hot start and fell to lower-ranked Viktorija Golubic, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (0), in the quarterfinals of the Suzhou Tennis Open on Friday, Oct. 3 in China.
The 58th-ranked Eala, the fourth seed in the WTA 125 tournament, started strong by dominating the opening set before finding herself faltering in the second, allowing the No. 70 Swiss veteran to seize control and force a decider.
In the third set, Eala showed grit by winning three straight games to level the score at 6-all, pushing the match into a tense tiebreak.
But the sixth-seeded Golubic staged a dramatic turnaround. Down 15-40 in the 12th game, she saved four match points and rallied to break Eala’s serve, then swept through the tiebreak by winning seven unanswered points to seal the win.
A victory for Eala could have arranged her a semifinal meeting with second seed German Tstjana Maria, who won by default over Kazakh Yulia Putintseva.
Prior to the tournament, Eala finished in the semifinals of the Jingshan Tennis Open also in China last week.
She won her breakthrough WTA singles title at the Guadalajara Open early last month, then finished in the quarterfinals of the Sao Paulo Open in Brazil.
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