Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala suffered an early exit from the Wuhan Open qualifiers after succumbing to Moyuka Uchijima, 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, Saturday evening in Manila.
Eala, who had a quick return to action after the Suzhou Open, ran out of fuel after competing in her fifth straight three-set match.
The three-setter matches started during the Jingshan Open semifinals, where the Rafa Nadal Academy graduate bowed out of the tourney after a 6-3, 4-6, 2-6 defeat against Lulu Sun.
Eala then played three-set thrillers against Katarzyna Kawa and Greet Minnen, before falling against Viktorija Golubic on Friday.
And on Saturday, Uchijima took the first set with ease, before the Filipina equalized things up, breaking the 2-all deadlock with four of the next five games.
However, Eala fell behind 0-3 in the third set, and she could not claw out of the deficit this time around.
The Japanese tennister won 54 service points to Eala’s 49. The latter, though, punched in 39 receiving points to the former’s 33.