Alex Eala saw action twice on Wednesday (Thursday morning, Philippine time) in the juniors competition of the US Open. And she was impressive in both matches as she posted victories in singles and doubles.
The 10th seeded Eala defeated 8th seed Taylah Preston of Australia, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) in the 3rd round of the singles competition at Court 9 of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York City.
Eala immediately stamped her class when she raced to a 5-1 lead before closing out the opening set in the 7th game.
Preston, however, came out strong in the second set as Eala found herself down 1-4. The Filipina teen prodigy, however, showed she too had some fight back in her as she erased the deficit and retook the lead at 5-4.
Preston managed to extend the set to a tiebreak. Still, any hopes by the Australian of a deciding third set were immediately dashed by Eala who erected an insurmountable 6-0 advantage en route to her straight-set victory.
With the win, the 17-year-old Eala matched her 2021 US Open finish when she made the quarterfinals.
The road to a potential first-ever junior grand slam title will get a lot tougher for Eala as waiting for her in the quarterfinals is her doubles partner, 14th seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia. Andreeva pulled off a three-set upset over top seed and tournament favorite Sofia Costoulas of Belgium. Costoula
Eala returned to Court 9 a few hours later to team up with the 15-year-old Andreeva for the doubles competition. Eala and Andreeva made short work of Iva Jovic and Shannon Lam of the United States, 6-2, 6-2. The fourth-seeded Eala and Andreeva will face Carolina Kuhl and Ella Seidel of Germany in the second round.
