Alex Eala exacted revenge over Anna Bondar of Hungary, 6-3, 6-1, to make it into the Round of 16 in the women’s singles of the W50 Trnava Thursday at the TC Empire in Slovakia.
It was a fulfilling victory by Eala following her 4-6, 7-6, 1-6 loss to Bondar in the quarterfinal of the W75 Porto in Portugal last week.
The Rafael Nadal Academy graduate needed one hour and 26 minutes to eliminate the second seeded netter, who is also at No. 111 in the latest Women’s Tennis Association rankings, in the $40,000 tournament.
Eala, ranked No. 180 in the WTA, is set to face Lina Gjorcheska of North Macedonia in the Last 16.
Gjorcheska, No. 373 in the WTA rankings, defeated Ursula Radwanska of Poland, 6-3, 6-2, in a separate Round of 32 match.
Meanwhile, Eala and her partner, Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey, are competing against Ilona Georgiana Ghioroaie of Romania and Czech Republic’s Aneta Kucmova as of press time.
Ghioroaie and Kucmova, edged out Francisca Jorge of Portugal and Anita Wagner of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 6-3, 1-6, 10-6, in the Round of 16 to face off against Eala and Sonmez.
Eala hopes to get her fifth singles title and second doubles title in this tournament if everything goes smoothly for her.
She last won a professional singles title at W25 Roehampton in the United Kingdom last August and a pro doubles title last January at the W50 Pune in India with Darja Semenistaja of Latvia.
