Bad day in Bad Homburg for Eala

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala stumbled in her final build-up for Wimbledon with a first-round exit in the WTA500 Bad Homburg in Germany yesterday.

Eala absorbed a 6-3, 6-3 defeat once more to Belgium’s Elise Mertens, WTA No. 26, in a match pushed back to Tuesday morning after a downpour interrupted the earlier matches at the Bad Homburg Tennis Club.

The 10-time WTA champion Mertens, 30, looked like a kryptonite for the 21-year-old Filipina following an easy 6-2, 6-1 win in Round 1 of the 2026 Madrid Open, then in the 2023 Jasmin Open in Tunisia, 7-5, 6-0.

Bad Homburg became the earliest exit for Eala in her grass season – a dampener in an impressive run marked by a 9-3 slate that catapulted her to No. 30 in the world rankings and a sure Wimbledon seed.