Alex Eala and her partner — Laura Pigossi of Brazil — booked a shocking win to advance to the quarterfinals of the WT125 Workday Canberra International at the Canberra Tennis Center in Australia.
The unseeded tandem of Eala and Pigossi registered a 5-7, 6-0, 10-6 win over former world doubles No. 1 Sara Erani of Italy and Renata Zarazua of Mexico to enter the Last Eight.
With the win, Eala and Pigoss will shoot for a semis spot against fourth-seeded pair of Anna Bondar of Hungary and Celine Naef of Switzerland in this tourney that serves as a warmup for the Australian Open qualifiers on 8 January.
Eala, who opened the new year with a career-best Women’s Tennis Association ranking of No. 185, will be marching to the semis with fire in her eyes as Naef is the same foe who beat her, 4-6, 5-7, in the singles qualifiers of this tourney over the weekend.
Naef is no easy foe as she climbed the world ranking faster than the 18-year-old Eala.
The 18-year-old Swiss used to be No. 4 in the juniors ranking in 2022 and is now at No. 121 in the WTA ranking.
She also has six International Tennis Federation professional singles titles while Eala has four, making her a force to be reckoned with in their doubles encounter.
