Alex Eala suffered a second defeat in two weeks courtesy of her good friend Iva Jovic, losing their second-round match at the HSBC Championships on Wednesday, June 10.
Despite four double faults compared to just one from Eala, Jovic needed just one hour and 16 minutes to show Eala the door, 6-2, 6-2.
Jovic, 18, will next face the winner between Amanda Anisimova and Laura Siegemund.
Anisimova is the tournament’s second seed, while Jovic is seeded sixth.
FOR TENNIS FANS: Alex Eala Tracker 2026: Matches, News, Rankings
A puzzle for Alex Eala to solve
Currently ranked number 19 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Jovic is now 2-0 against Eala. She beat Eala in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, in the first round of the French Open last May.
But it wasn’t a complete loss for Eala, who earned $28,245 (about ₱1.73 million) by making it to the second round. During the weekend, she also won her second WTA 125 singles title, winning the Lexus Birmingham Open championship.
As of Wednesday, June 10, Eala is listed as a qualifier for the Bad Homburg tournament in Germany, another grass-court event in the run-up to Wimbledon.
A quick win by Iva Jovic
Jovic took the first set, 6-2, in their match on Wednesday. She then had an early break point in the second set, taking a 2-1 lead.
Eala had a chance to break back, thanks in part to a double fault by Jovic, but the American held serve.
A forehand winner gave Jovic a second break point and a 4-1 lead in the second set. She again held serve, taking a 5-1 lead and forcing Eala to fight to stay in the match.
Eala handed Jovic her first match point by sending a backhand wide.
5-match win streak cut short
But Jovic’s return went wide as well and another shot went straight into the net, giving Eala a chance to hold serve. She pushed the score to 2-5, and Jovic had to serve for the match.
Jovic converted her second match point and cut short Eala’s five-match winning streak on grass.
READ ALSO: Alex Eala wins Birmingham Open, breaks ‘the Czech curse’ at last
Also scheduled at the Queen’s Club in Kensington yesterday were Victoria Mboko’s match against former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, and Donna Vekic’s match against Marie Bouzkova.
Sorana Cirstea got ready to face British star Emma Raducanu. The tournament’s defending champion, Tatjana Maria, got handed a tough assignment: tournament top seed Elena Rybakina.
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