Eala suffers early Nottingham Open exit

Alex Eala suffered yet another early exit after suffering a 6-4, 6-3 loss to Magda Linette of Poland in the Round of 32 of the Nottingham Open at the Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre in London last Tuesday.

The setback, which lasted for one hour and 39 minutes, marks the second time that Eala didn’t make it pass the first round in a grass tournament.

Eala’s stint in the Nottingham Open ended early despite having a strong start in the qualifying rounds.

The 20-year-old Eala carved a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Varvara Gracheva of France in the first qualifying round before delivering a 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 victory over Anca Todoni of Romania to earn a spot in the main draw.

Her best run in a grass tournament in 2025 was back at the Ilkley Open last week where she made it as far as the quarterfinals before losing to Rebecca Marino of Canada, 6-1, 0-6, 6-7.

Eala is joining every grass tournament she can in Great Britain as part of her preparation for the Wimbledon Championships on 30 June at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

With Eala currently at No. 77 in the latest Women’s Tennis Association rankings, she is a shoo-in to skip the qualifying round and enter the main draw of her second Grand Slam as a professional tennis player.

Eala hopes to make a deep run at Wimbledon after suffering an early exit in the French Open last May where she lost to Emiliana Arango of Romania, 0-6, 6-2, 3-6, in the first round.