Unseeded American ousts Eala

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala absorbed yet another early exit, folding to lower-ranked and unseeded American foe Claire Liu, 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, in Round 1 of the WTA250 Guangzhou Open yesterday at the Nansha International Tennis Center in China.

Eala wasted a 4-2 lead in the second set for what’s supposed to be a sweep after taking the opener with ease, and that spelled doom for a bigger meltdown in the third set.

Seeded No. 4 and ranked No. 53 in the Women’s Tennis Association, the 20-year-old Filipina then relinquished another 3-1 gap in the third for the stinging defeat in two hours and 28 minutes.

Liu is ranked No. 305 in the world and had to go through the qualifying rounds before slaying the giant in Eala, who ascended as among today’s young tennis stars with a breakthrough WTA title in Mexico last month.

It’s the third straight early exit for Eala after also bowing in the qualifiers of the W100 Wuhan Open and the first round of the WTA250 Japan Open after consecutive deep runs in Latin America and China.