Eala gets early door in Lexus Birmingham Open doubles

ALEX EALA’s transition to the grass season got off to a flat start after a quick elimination in the 2025 Lexus Birmingham Open doubles on Tuesday in the United Kingdom.

Ms. Eala and her Swiss partner Rebeka Masarova fell to the second-seeded tandem of Ellen Perez and Storm Hunter from Australia, 6-4, 6-4, in Round 1.

She will now focus her attention on the singles play at press time with a first-round duel against Czech Republic’s Linda Fruhvirtová at 8:20 p.m. (Manila time).

Ms. Eala is seeded third in the tourney and boasts a ranking of No. 73 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) compared to Ms. Fruhvirtová, 20, at WTA No. 152.

The Filipina sensation, also 20, is coming off a similar early exit in the clay courts of France for her foiled Grand Slam main draw debut in Roland Garros.

Ms. Eala and Mexican partner Renata Zarazua folded to Olga Danilovic of Serbia and Anastasia Potapova of Russia, 6-1, 6-3, to bow out of contention in Round 2 of the French Open doubles.

She also absorbed a quick 0-6, 6-2, 3-6 loss against WTA No. 88 Emiliana Arango of Colombia in the first round of the singles play.

In UK, she and Ms. Masarova actually got to a fine 2-1 start but the Australian pair stamped their experience down the stretch of the opening set that just snowballed to a 4-0 start in the second for the win one hour and 11 minutes.

Ms. Eala’s Birmingham stint is part of her preparations for an anticipated main draw debut in the 2025 Wimbledon on June 30 to July 11 in London.

A graduate of the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain, Ms. Eala is now eligible for a direct invite in Grand Slam main draws like the French Open and Wimbledon after entering the Top 100 rankings of the WTA.

She made it possible, even reaching as high as No. 69, by scoring a historic semifinal finish in the Miami Open to rise all the way from No. 140. — John Bryan Ulanday