Asiad-bound Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala started strong but fell short in her second professional final loss, absorbing a breadstick in the third set from former doubles partner Destanee Aiava of Australia, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, in the final of the ITF W25 Aldershot event in Hampshire on Sunday.

Playing in her second straight final on British soil, the world number 248 Eala took quick control at the start of the first set with a 3-0 opening lead before trading games with the world number 270.

Aiava then bounced back with a 5-1 lead in the second set, which Eala tried to chase by responding with three games won.

Eala ultimately ran out of steam in the third set as the teenager’s swings have turned soft, dropping the first five games and ending up with only a solitary game to end her campaign.

It was Eala’s second loss in a singles play final of the ITF professional circuit. She previously lost last June 2022 in the Madrid W60 final against Marina Bassols Ribera of Spain.

Last Friday, Eala and current partner Urszula Radwanska of Poland reached the semifinals of the Aldershot doubles tournament but fell short against the Japanese duo of Saki Imamura and Erina Hayashi in straight sets.

It was a dream weekend for Aiava as she bagged the doubles event alongside Sarah Beth Grey of England, beating Imamura and Hayashi in the final.

Eala has announced this week that she will skip the U.S. Open, where she won the girls singles trophy last year, to prepare for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou next month.

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