Alex Eala moved closer to winning her third singles title after posting a 6-2, 6-3 win over Ana Konjuh of Croatia in the quarterfinals of the W80 Pointiers women’s singles at the Comité Départemental De Tennis De La Vienne in Poitiers, France Friday.
Eala, 17, needed only one hour and 15 minutes to reach the semifinal of the $80,000 tournament.
Ranked 248 by the Women’s Tennis Association, Eala took down Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia, 6-4, 6-3, last Thursday in the round of 16.
“Walking into my first ever 80k semifinals,” Eala posted in her social media page.
The 2022 US Open girls champion earlier topped the W15 Manacor in Spain last year and W25 Chiang Rai in Thailand last April.
This is Eala’s fourth professional tournament since winning the US Open title last September.
She played at the W60 Templeton and the W80 Rancho Santa Fe tournaments after her historic victory in Flushing Meadows in New York.
Her third tournament before the French tilt was at the W60 Hamburg last 17 October where she suffered a 6-4, 6-0 loss to Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium in the second round.
Now, Eala has a chance to settle her score with Bonaventure as they clash in the semifinal at press time.
The 28-year-old Belgian ousted seventh seed Oceane Dodin, 6-1, 6-3, in a separate match to reach the semis.
