Less than two months after a successful double championship in Italy, Alex Eala is back on the big stage.
The no. 2 seed wasted no time in the second round of the 2021 US Open junior girls’ singles event. She made swift work of hometown bet Charlotte Owensby, 6-3, 6-3, Wednesday (Manila time) at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, Wednesday (Philippine time).
As if to underscore her dominance in the match, Eala ended it with a service hold to love that ended the one hour-and-six-minute contest on her own terms as she forced the American to a backhand error on the return.
The 16-year-old Filipino, however, had to crawl her way back from a 0-2 deficit in the opening set. And after Owensby took the 3-2 lead, it was all Eala afterwards. She swept the next four games to take the set advantage.
The second set was more of the same as the older American broke the Eala serve. She then held her own serve to take another 2-0 lead.
This time, however, Eala managed to take the following game even after going down three game points to take the momentum and control of the match.
Eala will take on Michaela Laki of Greece in the next round of the singles tournament. The Greek also took down a hometown bet in Elizabeth Coleman, 6-0, 6-4.
