Filipino qualifier Alex Eala exited the singles competition of the W100 Tokyo in Japan on Wednesday, but she remains in contention in the doubles draw where she will play in the quarterfinals.

The 18-year-old suffered a 6-4, 6-7(5), 2-6 loss in the second round to Australian No. 5 seed Kimberly Birrell, who set a quarters clash against German second seed and 2022 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Jule Niemeier.

Eala, who is on a career-high ranking of WTA World No. 195, was the first to hold serve for 5-4 after she and Birrell traded four pairs of service breaks.

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The four-time ITF women’s singles champion from the Philippines earned two set points due to a double fault, and she claimed the first set at 40-30 with a potent backhand crosscourt shot, 6-4.

As the match continued on Court 1 of the Ariake Tennis Park, Eala cruised to 3-0 by forcing a forehand service return error.

Birrell, the World No. 111 with five ITF titles, made it to the scoreboard in the fourth game then broke serve by eliciting an error on the forehand side.

The 25-year-old Australian caught up to 3-3 via a love hold that was capped by an ace.

Eala replied with a hold at love, and Birrell leveled once more with a quick service game that was sealed by a forehand down-the-line shot.

The tightly contested ninth game had six deuces, with Eala fending off two break points, until rain got in the way.

After transferring to the Indoor 6 Court, the Filipino won the next two points for 5-4 and the Australian responded with a brisk hold followed by a break due to a double fault.

Eala broke back after deflecting Birrell’s three set points and enduring three deuces to bring up a tiebreak, which the Aussie dominated at 5-2.

The Filipino fought back and equalized at 5-5 courtesy of a double fault, but Birrell earned her fourth set point and converted a mini-break, 7-6(5).

In the deciding third set, Birrell was the first to break for 4-2 after Eala committed double faults at deuce and advantage.

The Australian broke again on her lone match point, 6-2, to book a quarterfinal spot versus World No. 91 Niemeier.

Eala began her W100 Tokyo debut as the No. 1 seed in qualifying, where she defeated Kanako Morisaki of Japan and ninth-seeded Anastasia Kulikova of Finland.

In the main draw opener, she posted a 6-4, 6-3 ouster of her doubles partner, the 386th-ranked Japanese wildcard Natsumi Kawaguchi.

Following their 6-4, 7-6(3) triumph over Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum and Peangtarn Plipuech in the first round, Eala and Kawaguchi will face third seeds Natela Dzalamidze of Georgia and Sofya Lansere of Russia in the quarters.

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