US Open juniors champion Alex Eala turned back Katy Dunn of England, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, in the round of 32 to kick off her campaign on the right foot in the W25 Yecla women’s singles tournament at the Yecla Club de Tenis in Spain early Wednesday (Manila time).
Eala, 18, needed two hours and 31 minutes to dispose of the 28-year-old Dunn to advance to the next level.
Prior to this Spanish tilt, the scholar of the Rafael Nadal Academy recently competed in the W25 Monastir tournament in Tunisia last week where she made it to the quarterfinal before losing to China’s Jiaqi Wang, 6-0, 4-6, 3-6.
Now, the No. 266-ranked Eala is doing everything she can to get her position higher in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings.
She is in search of her third singles title after skipping the 32nd Southeast Asian Games last 5 to 17 in Cambodia and falling short of qualifying in the French Open.
Eala’s next opponent will be the winner between United States’ Jessica Failla and Nahia Berecoechea of France.
Failla, 25, is currently at No. 464 in the latest WTA rankings while the 21-year-old Berecoechea is at No. 585.
The Filipino tennis prodigy has so far won the W15 Manacor in Spain and the W25 Chiang Rai in Thailand in her progressional career.
