Alex Eala’s run with Shaira Rivera in the Asian Games women’s doubles ended in the second round after they bowed out to China’s Jiang Xinyu and Yang Zhaoxuan, 7-5, 6-2, on Wednesday night at Higashiyama Park Tennis Center.
Eala and Rivera dug deep in the first set after the Chinese pair cruised to set point, 5-2, but the Filipino tandem never gave up in the next three games to force a deuce at 5-5.
However, Jiang and Yang dominated the last two games to take the opening.
Eala and Rivera, who are patnering for the first time, then trailed 5-1 in the second and saved one point before China closed out the match in an hour and 34 minutes.
Jiang and Yang battle Kazakhstan’s Yuliya Putintseva and Anna Danilina in the quarterfinal.
Eala was hours removed from her quarterfinal triumph over Joanna Garland of Chinese Taipei, 7-5, 6-0, that secured at least a bronze medal – matching her finish in Hangzhou 2022.
Later in the night Rivera’s run in the mixed doubles with Niño Alcantara also ended in the second round, yielding to Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Yusuke Kusuhara, 6-4, 6-4.
Stefi Aludo and Tenny Madis also bowed out in the doubles second round to Chinese Taipei’s Fang-hsien Wu and Hao-ching Chan, 6-3, 6-1.