After taking a 3 week break from playing tennis, Alex Eala returned to the hardcourt of the National Bank Open at Montreal, Canada only to lose in her 1st game today, July 28.
Unsustained Victory From the 1st Set
The 20-year-old ranked no. 65 Alex Eala faced the 26 year old ranked no. 63 Marketa Vondrousova for her 1st game in the 1st round.
Both players exchanged early breaks in the opening set, but it was Eala who seized the upper hand by breaking serve at 4–3. Backed by a vocal crowd of Filipino supporters in Canada, she confidently held serve to go up 5–3 and eventually closed out the set even with Vondrousova having multiple break opportunities, specifically eight in total, but could only convert one as Eala’s aggressive baseline game paid dividends.
FINAL SCORE OF SET 1: 6-3
Playing at the Centre Court, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, Vondrousova responded with a strong start to the second set, breaking early for a 1–0 lead and holding a chance to stretch it to 2–0. Eala fought back to level the score at 1–1, but the Czech lefty weathered a 0–40 scare in the following game, rallying to hold serve and regain the lead at 2–1. That pivotal hold shifted the momentum squarely in favor of the player from the Czech Republic. A series of unforced errors from the finalist of the Eastbourne Open, Eala, allowed Vondrousova to take the second set.
FINAL SCORE OF SET 2: 6-1
Riding the wave of momentum into the deciding third set, Vondrousova immediately broke Eala for a 1–0 lead and followed it with a pair of aces in her next service game. The pride of the Philippines, Alex, showed grit and managed to break back, leveling the score at 1–1.
However, Vondrousova found another gear, reeling off two straight games to go up 3–1. Eala held serve to stay within reach at 2–3, fueled by continued cheers from the Filipino crowd. In a tightly contested sixth game, Eala clawed back from 40–15 to deuce, aided by a powerful winner and a double fault from her opponent, but Vondrousova held firm to make it 4–2. She then broke Eala again in the following game and served out the match with composure to seal the victory.
FINAL SCORE OF SET 3: 6-2
The match lasted two hours and six minutes and saw Vondrousova edge Eala in several key statistics, including aces (7–0), service points won (62% to 54%), and return points won (46% to 38%).
After the match, Alex Eala shared her thoughts in the post-game interview:
“The only thing I expected is she’s gonna play a great match and she has some great results before. I expected a tough match and it was a tough one so I’m happy to be through. She was very aggressive, so I tried to get a lot of balls back. My serve was much better in the second and third sets.”
Moving Forward in Different Directions
With the win, Vondrousova secured a spot in the second round, where she will face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.
As of writing this, there is no confirmed source yet on what tournament Alex will join next, but it is certain that she is preparing for the last Grandslam tournament of the year, which is the US Open.
It can be recalled that in the last games of Eala, she also suffered a 1st round exit both in singles and doubles at Wimbledon Open last July 1 and 3.
