EARLY EXIT: Eala falls to former Wimbledon champ Vondrousova in National Open Bank debut

Fresh off a short break, Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala saw her early lead slip away as she bowed to 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova of Czech Republic in a comeback 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, loss, cutting her National Bank Open 2025 campaign short on sour note in Montreal, Canada on July 28 (Philippines Time).

Despite the early exit in her return to the grasscourt, rising star Eala still climbed four spots to rise to world ranking no. 65, while Vondrousova improved her ranking to 63rd.

In a post-game interview, the 20-year-old Filipina shared that she was aware of the tough game ahead against her seasoned Czech opponent.

“The only thing I expected is she’s gonna play a great match and she has some great results before. I expected a tough match and it was a tough one so I’m happy to be through.” said Eala.

Kicking off her tourney campaign, Eala came out hot in drawing the first blood with a crucial break at 4-3 and holding on to it down the stretch to seal the opening set, 6-3.

However, Vondruosova quickly flipped the narrative in the second set, pouncing on Eala’s slew of unforced errors to tie at 1-apiece.

From there on, the Czech held firm in the last set, breaking Eala’s serve in a tense deuce battle  to take a 4-2 lead, then calmly served out the match in the seventh game to complete the come-from-behind win.

“I expected a tough match. I’m very happy to go through. She was very aggressive, so I tried to get a lot of balls back. My serve was much better in the second and third sets.” Vondrousova said after the game.

Still aiming for a breakthrough, Eala hopes to secure a spot in the US open main draw set to begin on August 2025.