Alex Eala picked up wins in both the women’s singles and doubles matches for a good start in the W25 Roehampton at the National Tennis Centre in London last Thursday (Manila time).
Eala swept Australia’s Gabriella Da Silva Fick, 6-3, 6-4, in the Round of 32 in the women’s singles as she pursues her fourth professional singles title.
It only took the graduate of the world-famous Rafael Nadal Academy one hour and 45 minutes to dispatch her Australian foe and make it to the Round of 16.
“Great start to my first tournament in the UK this year!,” Eala said on a social media post.
Waiting for her in the next round is another Australian netter in Destanee Aiava, who the Filipino entry is tacking at press time.
Aiava, 23, will be a different test for Eala, who is ranked No. 250 in the Women’s Tennis Association, as she is also her doubles partner in the tournament.
In fact, Eala and Aiava booked a 7-5, 6-2 win over the duo of Elle McDonald of Great Britain and Julie Belgraver of France in the Round of 16.
The Filipino-Australian duo needed only over an hour to finish the match and advance to the quarterfinal.
Eala and Aiava are playing against Talia Gibson and Petra Hule, who both hail from New Zealand, as of press time.
The No. 1 seed Kiwi pair is coming off a 6-2, 7-6 win over Croatia’s Mariana Drazic and Yeon Woo Ku of South Korea in a separate match to get into the quarterfinal.
Eala is also using the tournaments she is joining to prepare for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from 23 September to 8 October.
