Joy ride over-for now

THE joy ride is over for Alex Eala.

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For now, that is. And it was an ugly ending, to say the least.Painful, but it’s true.

Eala did not just bow to Karolina Muchova. She was crushed like a smashed squash, bleeding to death as in a kidnapped, mercilessly tortured captive of a terrorist group demanding ransom money.

Hair-raising scene it was to see Muchova dismantle, punish, beat Eala to a pulp that you need to pinch yourself many times to make sure the ghastly slaughter was really happening.

This was the fourth round of the Miami Open, starting close to midnight Monday, March 23 Philippine time, the carnage completed almost exactly an hour later.

Yes, Muchova was expected to win, having crowned herself the Qatar Open champion only last January—her second WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) 1000 title.

Thus, against the still winless Eala, Muchova was carrying a momentum as formidable as an enemy missile in the ongoing Middle East conflict.