Alex Eala of the Philippines leaves the court after her loss to Karolina Muchova of Czechia on Day 7 of the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Hard Rock Stadium on March 23, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP
MANILA, Philippines–Alex Eala lost her first grass court match this season on the Birmingham Open doubles round of 16 on Monday (Manila time) in England.
Eala and Nikola Bartunkova fell to home bets and tournament second seeds Harriet Dart and Maia Lumsden, 4-6, 6-2, Sep 11.
READ: Alex Eala opens grass campaign vs Priscilla Hon at Birmingham Open
The Filipino-Czech duo jumped out the gates and led 4-0 within the opening set, but didn’t sustain its strong start.
Eala and Bartunkova regained their groove within the second, where they zoomed to a 5-2 lead and compelled a 10-point tiebreak.
Dart and Lumsen, seeded second within the tournament, got here back from an 8-9 deficit to outlast Eala and Bartunkova within the thrilling tiebreak.
READ: Alex Eala happy with progress despite early French Open exit
Eala will make her singles debut in Birmingham this season as the highest seed on Tuesday against Australia’s Priscilla Hon within the round of 32.
The 21-year-old Eala, ranked thirty seventh on this planet, split her first two meetings against Hon.