Alex Eala suffered a 6-0, 6-3 loss to Himeno Sakatsume of Japan in the opening round to bomb out of the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championship 2023 at the Utsubo Tennis Center in Osaka, Japan on Tuesday.
Eala, No. 195 in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, endured one hour and 14 minutes in her match before crumbling to pressure against the No. 184 Sakatsume.
The 18-year-old graduate of the world-famous Rafael Nadal Academy made it to the main draw following a 6-3, 6-4 win over Mexico’s Fernanda Contreras of Mexico last Saturday before taking down Sohyun Park of South Korea, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, last Sunday.
Eala previously got knocked out of the W100 Tokyo women’s singles last week after a 6-4, 6-7, 2-6 loss to Australia’s Kimberly Birrell in the Round of 16.
The Filipino tennis prodigy is currently in Asia as she gears up for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Eala will be joined by Southeast Asian Games gold medalists Francis Alcantara and Ruben Gonzales in China as they hope to break a 61-year gold medal drought for tennis in the prestigious continental tourney.
The last time the Philippines took home a gold medal in tennis in the Asian Games was when Johnny Jose defeated Japanese netter Atsushi Miyagi, 7–5, 6–3, 6–2, in the men’s singles final of the 1962 Asiad in Jakarta.
