Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson derailed the bold bid of Filipino Alex Eala to gain entry into the main draw of the 2024 Australian Open with a 6-2, 7-5 victory in the first qualifying march at Court 13 in Melbourne Park on Tuesday in Melbourne, Australia.
Peterson, No. 128 in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, pulled the plug on the 18-year-old Eala’s quest after one hour and 48 minutes to secure a slot in the second qualifying match.
While the first set saw the Swede dominate Eala, the second set could have gone either way with Eala and Peterson tied at 5-5.
With Eala serving in the 11th game, Peterson broke the Filipino’s serve after four deuces to make it 6-5.
The Swede then dominated the 12th game as she held her serve to win the match.
This is Eala’s second straight time of bowing out early in the first Grand Slam of the year after absorbing a 6-4, 6-7, 3-6 loss to Japan’s Misaki Doi in the first qualifying match last year.
Against the more experienced Peterson, Eala committed 38 unforced errors compared to the Swede’s 25.
Peterson, who has 14 International Tennis Federation titles to her name, also finished the game with six aces while Eala only had two.
Experience was key as Peterson once reached the the third round of the 2018 US Open.
With the setback, Eala, a graduate of the Rafael Nadal Academy graduate, failed to grab one of the 16 available slots in this year’s Australian Open, which features stars such as world No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, World No. 2 and reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, Japanese bet Naomi Osaka and Belarusian pride Angelique Kerber.
Eala is aiming to join all Grand Slams this year. She now sets her sights on the French Open in May.
Eala, formerly the US Open juniors champion, entered the qualifying parading a rating of world No. 187.
