Alex Eala downs former French Open champ anew, reaches Eastbourne quarters

After a horrendous first set, Alex Eala recovers with a masterful performance as former world No. 5 Jelena Ostapenko decides to retire from the match

MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala had shown twice these recent days that she could dominate against top 100 players. Now, she has also twice shown she could come back from a set down and still defeat players ranked higher than her. 

After a horrendous first set, Eala put on a masterful performance in the last two sets to once again prevail over third seed and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 0-6, 6-2, 3-2 (ret.), in the second round of the WTA 150 Lexus Eastbourne Open on Wednesday, June 25. 

At Court 1 of the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club in the United Kingdom, Eala showed she has become comfortable playing in the fast conditions by dictating the tempo of her exchanges with the former world No. 5, who is known for her powerful groundstrokes and aggressive style of play. 

It was an unfortunate end, though, to a match which was shaping up to be, in the words of the commentator, arguably the most exciting in the entire tournament thus far. 

The match wrapped up prematurely in the fifth game with Eala serving when a hobbling Ostapenko — who already called for two medical timeouts in the third set to have her ankle checked — informed the umpire that she was retiring. 

With the win, the 20-year-old Eala upset Ostapenko again after beating the 28-year-old Latvian in straight sets in the Miami Open last March.

In the quarterfinals, Eala will face the winner between 2024 Australian Open semifinalist Dayana Yamstremska of Ukraine and wildcard entry Francesca Jones of Great Britain.

The first set was all Ostapenko, even as the beginning provided no clue that it would be lopsided. 

Eala had multiple break points in the very first game of the first set and also had game points in the second game but could not convert on her opportunities, falling behind 0-3 when the scoreline could have easily been 2-1 in her favor. 

Ostapenko, now brimming with confidence, swept the last three games to blank Eala in the opening set. 

The world No. 74 Eala finally found her rhythm in the second set and got herself back in contention.

After the current world No. 20 from Latvia held serve to open the second set, Eala rolled off to collect the next three games to put herself in the driver’s seat. 

Ostapenko’s explosive serves allowed her to stay in the set at 3-2, but that would be the closest she would get. The Filipina held serve two times and broke Ostapenko in the seventh game to win, 6-2, and even the match at one set apiece. 

The third set saw Eala carrying over her momentum, breaking Ostapenko in the first game and holding serve to open a 2-0 lead. 

Even as the Latvian managed to fight back to keep the score close, Eala would not relinquish the lead nor allow Ostapenko to draw even. – Rappler.com