Torrential rain puts halt to Alex Eala’s Round of 32 match at the Oeiras Ladies Open in Portugal.
Alex Eala was ahead by a set in her Round of 32 matchup against Dutch hitter Anouk Koevermans before rain forced the match to a stop in Center Court at the Oeiras Ladies Open in Portugal on Monday afternoon.
Eala, competing in her first tournament since the Miami Open, nabbed the first set, 6-3, after gaining momentum late before the play stopped in the second set.
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The match was delayed thrice already as of press time, with the first coming in the second set right after Eala broke Koevermans’ serve in Game 5 to get within a game of her opponent, 2-3, which curved the Dutch hitter’s momentum after winning three straight games.
After about 20 minutes, the match resumed when the rain stopped briefly, with Koevermans restoring her two-game advantage, 4-2. But as the rain poured on, the game was once again halted.
An hour passed before a restart was attempted. However, during the warmups, the rain grew stronger again which ultimately delayed the game anew before they could actually restart the match.
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Rain has continued on for the past hour with the court already flooding.
It has yet to be decided if the match will be resumed also on Monday or on a later date.
Eala is the top seed in the tournament and she is currently looking for her first WTA title.