Alex Eala falls to Elise Mertens anew in Bad Homburg Open exit

MANILA, Philippines – The grind seemed to have caught up with Alex Eala. 

Eala crashed out of the opening round of the Bad Homburg Open in Germany following a 6-3, 6-3 loss to world No. 26 Elise Mertens of Belgium on Monday, June 22 (Tuesday, June 23, Manila time).

Playing in her 12th match in 22 days, Eala failed to sustain a promising start as she suffered her earliest exit of the grass-court swing after impressing with a title run in the WTA 125 Birmingham Open and a semifinal appearance in the WTA 500 Berlin Open.

Eala raced to a 3-1 lead after holding serve twice and breaking Mertens, but the Belgian veteran flipped the script and reeled off five straight games to clinch the first set. 

Mertens won eight consecutive games in total as she surged ahead at 3-0 in the second set before she proceeded to wrap up the match in 1 hour and 23 minutes.

Eala saved two match points to inch within 3-5 only to be blanked in the next game as Mertens arranged a round of 16 clash with four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan.

A winner of 10 WTA Tour titles, the 30-year-old Mertens showcased her experience by edging Eala in nearly every department, recording 8 more aces and 10 more winners and committing 4 less unforced errors.

The loss kept Eala winless against Mertens as the world No. 30 Filipina also absorbed straight-set defeats at the hands of the Belgian in the 2023 Jasmin Open in Tunisia and the 2026 Madrid Open in Spain. 

Eala remains in Bad Homburg as she teams up with American tennis legend Venus Williams in doubles action against Alexandra Osborne of Australia and Catherine Harrison of the United States in the round of 16 on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old is using the WTA 500 tournament as her last warmup event for the Wimbledon Championships, where she will be seeded for the first time in a Grand Slam. – Rappler.com