ALEX EALA bowed to Croatia’s Jana Fett, 7-5, 6-2, to absorb an early exit in Round 1 of the 2025 Australian Open on Tuesday at the Melbourne Park.
Ms. Eala waxed hot early in the opening frame but lost steam down the stretch before being completely outclassed in the second set en route to a quick elimination in her highly-anticipated first major tourney this year.
Hopes were high for the 19-year-old Filipina pride to make her mark in the Land Down Under after impressive campaigns in the three other Grand Slams last year but to no avail in the match that lasted one hour and 59 minutes.
Ranged against the No. 27 seed Ms. Fett, the unranked but undaunted Ms. Eala managed to scoop a 2-0 lead in the extended first set but surrendered the next five games to stare at a sudden 2-5 deficit.
Ms. Eala, WTA No. 147 on the heels of a semifinal finish in the Workday Canberra International last weekend, would fight back by holding serve and breaking Ms. Fett’s twice to tie things up at 5-all before succumbing.
The WTA No. 134 Ms. Fett then stamped her class from there on, blitzing to a 4-0 lead in the second en route to the second round against Austria’s Sinja Kraus (WTA No. 211), which made short work of WTA No. Victoria Hrunkacova (WTA No. 168), in their own first-round duel, 6-1, 6-2.
Ms. Fett, a seasoned player with 14 pro titles, banked on her lethal offensive game by converting 61% of her serves while forcing Ms. Eala to five errors.
It’s a mastery of 28-year-old Ms. Fett on Ms. Eala once again after a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the 2021 W25 Manacor in Spain, where the Filipina ace graduated as a scholar at the Rafael Nadal Academy.
Ms. Eala was a former junior champion in the 2020 Australian Open before climbing to the women’s division in a bid to become the first Filipina player ever to make it to a Grand Slam main draw.
Her early elimination in the Australian Open was a stark contrast to her qualifying final stints in the other majors of the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open last season. — John Bryan Ulanday
