Alex Eala in W80 Rancho Santa Fe. – ALEX EALA FACEBOOK
MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala advances to the quarterfinals of the first $80,000 competition in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s World Tennis Championships.
The 17-year-old Filipino beat Canada’s Katherine Sebov, 7-6 (6), 6-2, in the second round of W80 Rancho Santa Fe on Friday (Manila time) in California.
Academy pundit Rafael Nadal beat Sebov in a close encounter in the first set and broke a 2-2 draw in the second before taking full control to win the quarterfinals in two hours.
“Fantastic match in my first W80k Tournament at the RSF Open. Thank you to everyone who cheered live…and virtually. Tomorrow, FINALLY! “Eala posted on Facebook. “Laban! Vamos! Allez!”
Eala, number 281 of the Women’s Tennis Association, had a duel with world number 229 Marcela Zacarias of Mexico at 2 a.m. on Saturday (Manila time).
28-year-old Zacarias knocked out Hina Inoue, 6-1, 7-5, in a second round bout to advance to the quarterfinals.
Eala impressed in her first W80 tournament as she headed to the main draw after beating Denisa Marcinkevica of Latvia, 6-1, 6-3, and Alana Smith of the United States, 6-0, 6-0, in qualifying.
Philippine Netter overthrows Americans Dalayna Hewitt6-1, 2-6, 6-0, in the first half.
The Philippines’ first singles Grand Slam winner is eyeing her third professional title since winning a pair of titles at W15 Manacor last year and W25 Chiang Rai in Thailand last April.
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