Alex Eala’s run in her first-ever professional tournament continued well into the semifinals.
This came after the 2020 Australian Open juniors doubles champion outlasted Carole Monet of France in an epic three-hour quarterfinal tussle, 6(4)-7, 7-6(4), 6-4, at the 2021 ITF Spain 01A Women’s World Tennis Tour at the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy in Manacor, Spain, Friday evening (Philippine time).
Eala, 15, proved her upset of top-seeded Australian Seone Mendez in the second round was no fluke, showing her all-around brilliance in the marathon match against Monet in the very same academy that honed her skills.
The Filipina had some rough time on her serve, managing only 56 percent of first serves in, but took advantage of her opportunities to break the French opponent’s serve.
The most crucial of these breaks came in the deciding set as Eala took the lead at 3-2 heading into the succeeding game on her own serve. She then consolidated this break with a hold to grab the 4-2 lead and she did not look back from there.
The young tennis standout shall attempt to advance to her first-ever WTT final when she takes Hong Kong’s Adithya Karunaratne in the semifinals, Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. (Manila time).
