Alex Eala crashed out of her first W100 tournament following a tough 4-6, 3-6 loss to 14th seed Katharina Hobgarski of Germany in the Round of 32 of the W100 Grodzisk Mazowiecki women’s singles tournament in Poland late Wednesday.
Packing her hits with power and precision, the 25-year-old German was simply too much for Eala as she needed only one hour and 30 minutes to wrap up their battle in this event that is considered as the highest category in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) women’s professional circuit.
With that, the 10-time champion in the women’s singles event of the ITF circuit marched into the Last 16 against Victoria Tomova of Bulgaria.
Eala’s early exit ended her string of semifinal appearances in Spain.
Prior to this competition, Eala advanced to the Last Four of the W25 El Espinar/Segovia and the W60 ITF Open Amutio events to boost her Women’s Tennis Association ranking to career-high No. 280.
The last time she reached a final was at the W60 Madrid last June when she lost to Spanish netter Marina Bassols Ribera of Spain, 4-6, 5-7.