She has bowed out of contention in the singles division.
On Friday, April 24, Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala returned to clay court at the 2026 Mutua Madrid Open in Spain for the round of 64 in women’s singles.
The world no. 44 faced off with Elise Mertens of Belgium, who is currently world no. 21 in singles and world no. 1 in doubles.
The 20-year-old Filipina struggled to find her footing against her much experienced 30-year-old opponent.
And within two sets in just 1 hour and 16 minutes, it was over, with Eala bowing out of the competition’s second round for the third consecutive year.
The final scoreboard read 6-2, 6-1.
This marks her third straight tournament, as well, where she was not able to make it past the first three rounds.
Despite this, Eala still has an upcoming match in Madrid, specifically in the doubles category where she pairs up with Turkish player Zeynep Sonmez.
Together, they will play American Taylor Townsend and Czech Katerina Siniakova in the round of 16 match scheduled for Sunday, April 26.