MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala squandered sizable leads as her string of early exits in clay court tournaments continued.
Eala lost to Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko for the first time following a 6-4, 7-5 defeat in their round of 16 match in the Linz Open in Austria on Wednesday, April 8.
Up 4-2 in the first set and 5-1 in the second set, the Filipina tennis star blew both leads as she once again failed to make it past the second round of a clay court event.
In 2025, Eala took part in four clay court tournaments and never won more than once in any of them.
The 20-year-old Eala had looked like she had a chance of ending that streak as she threatened to force a decider by grabbing a commanding 5-1 lead in the second set only to witness Ostapenko prove why she won the 2024 edition of the WTA 500 event.
Ostapenko — also the 2017 champion of the French Open, the crown jewel of clay court tournaments — won the next six games to wrap up the match in one hour and 43 minutes and advance in her bid of reclaiming the Linz crown.
It was a similar collapse for Eala in the first set, where she dropped the last four games.
Ostapenko finally got her redemption after losing her first two encounters with Eala in the 2025 Miami Open and 2025 Eastbourne Open — events where the Filipina enjoyed deep runs.
Eala beat Ostapenko, 7-6 (2), 7-5, in Miami en route to the semifinals then earned a 0-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory in Eastbourne on the way to her first WTA final.
Those were hard (Miami) and grass (Eastbourne) tournaments, but on clay, the world No. 23 Ostapenko showed who is the boss.
“She’s a good player. This year, some good things are happening. I’m beating players that I never beat before. So it means I’m on the right way,” said Ostapenko.
Ostapenko will face Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the quarterfinals.
Despite her defeat, Eala is expected to climb one spot up to No. 45 when the new WTA rankings are released on Monday, April 13, following her round of 16 appearance in Linz.
Up next for Eala is the Stuttgart Open in Germany scheduled from April 13 to 19. – Rappler.com