Three-time Central American Games champion Marcela Zacarias of Mexico pulled the plug on Alex Eala’s bid Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the W80 Rancho Santa Fe in California.
Eala dropped a 6-2, 7-5 decision to the 26-year-old Zacarias in the match that lasted two hours and 16 minutes at the Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club.
Eala, fresh from winning the US Open girls title, beat Dalayna Hewitt of the United States and Katherine Sebov of Canada in the first two rounds of the main draw.
Now ranked No. 130 by the WTA, the veteran Zacarias faces Elvina Kalieva of the United States in the semifinals.
A scholar of the famed Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy in Mallorca, Spain, Eala, 17, has yet to provide details about her next tournament.
Before joining the W80 Rancho netfest, Eala placed second in Templeton.
