After singles breakthrough, Eala bows out in Wimbledon doubles with Bartunkova
At A Glance
- Fresh off her singles breakthrough a few hours ago, Eala couldn't carry that momentum into the doubles as she and Bartunkova ran out of gas against their seasoned rivals.
Alex Eala (AP)
Alex Eala and Nikola Bartunkova bowed out of the Wimbledon Championships doubles after yielding to eighth-seeded pair Jelena Ostapenko and Sofia Kenin, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, in the opening round on Friday, July 3 (Philippine time).
Fresh off her singles breakthrough a few hours ago, Eala couldn’t carry that momentum into the doubles as she and Bartunkova ran out of gas against their seasoned rivals.
Eala and Bartunkova, who actually played against each other in the finals of the Birmingham Classic that the Filipina won, started off strong by claiming the first set, before Ostapenko and Kenin regained their bearings and dominated the next two frames.
Ostapenko, a 2024 US Open doubles champion, and Kenin, a two-time doubles quarterfinalist, advanced to the second round where they will face either the pair of McCartney Kessler and Diana Shnaider, or the tandem of Anastasia Detiuc and Irina Khromacheva.