Alex Eala’s historic run came to a screeching half after suffering a 4-6, 3-6 loss to Cristina Bucsa of Spain in the second round of the US Open women’s singles event on Thursday at Court 7 of the USTA Billie Jean King Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York.
Nerves – and a lot of errors – killed Eala’s chances, forcing her to kiss her chances goodbye in this prestigious event, where she made history after winning her first Grand Slam match following a heart-stopping three-set win over Clara Tauson of Denmark in the opening round.
Save for the legendary Felicisimo Ampon who had some measure of success in the professional circuit in the early 1950s, no Filipino has ever won in a single match in the Grand Slam until Eala flattened the world No. 14 Tauson before a massive pro-Filipino crowd last Monday.
But despite having a winning mindset, Eala struggled against the unseeded Spaniard, who is 95 rungs lower than her and was reportedly battling stomach issues. In fact, prior to facing Eala, Bucsa complained of feeling unwell and had to retreat to the locker room during warm-ups before storming back to shockingly beat American qualifier Claire Liu in the first round.
Aside from that, the 20-year-old Eala had already beaten Bucsa in the past – a sweet 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 decision in the Round of 16 of the W25 Grenoble tournament in France in 2021.
With the odds heavily stacked in her favor, sideliners believe that it’s going to be a short day for the Filipino before she prepares for the third round against world No. 21 Elise Mertens of Belgium in the third round.
But it didn’t happen.
Eala, supposedly in peak form, faltered. Her sour performance was peppered with 21 unforced errors and a disappointing 3-of-9 conversion on break points.
Leading 40-15 in the eighth game in the first set, Eala committed back-to-back errors that gave Bucsa, the bronze medalist in the women’s doubles event of the Paris Olympics, delivered a crushing forehand and an ace before breaking Eala’s serve to steal the first set.
The second set followed a similar outcome.
After finding themselves tied, 3-3, in the set and 15 in the seventh game, the older, more experienced Spaniard watched Eala crumbled to pressure, committing three straight errors to grab the lead and dictate the tempo the rest of the way.