Alex Eala crushed Mexico’s Victoria Rodriguez, 6-1, 6-3, yesterday to make the grade for a semifinal seat in the W25 Yecla women’s singles tournament at the Yecla Club de Tenis in Spain.
Eala needed one hour and six minutes to get the job done as she inches closer to her third professional title.
The 18-year-old scholar of the Rafael Nadal Academy is coming off a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Nahia Berecoechea of France last Friday in the round of 16.
The last time the three-time Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist reached the semifinal was at the W80 Poitiers in France last October.
Eala, last year’s US Open junior champion, is just relieved to finally get past the quarterfinal after her run at the W25 Monastir women’s singles tournament in Tunisia last week.
“After my Quarterfinals finish in Monastir, Tunisia, during my birthday week, I am glad to have won my Quarterfinals match today! I play the semis tomorrow here at Yecla, Spain,” Eala, who is seeded second in the tournament, said in a social media post.
Up next for Eala is Argentina’s Lucia Perye.
Perye, No. 906 in the latest Women’s Tennis Association rankings, blew past Katarina Kozarov of Serbia, 6-3, 7-6, to earn a showdown with the Filipino entry rated No. 219.
