MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala came back with a vengeance by zooming into the quarterfinals of the W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz women’s singles yesterday in Spain.
On the heels of a foiled breakthrough in the Wimbledon Open, Eala strung up two straight wins to make a deep run in the $100,000 Spanish tourney with a pretty chance at the Final Four.
Seeded fifth in the elite joust, Eala first drubbed Lian Tran of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-2, before escaping past home bet Lucia Cortez Llorca, 7-5, 7-5.
Eala, 19, was shooting for a semifinal ticket against the fourth-seeded Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine at press time.
This is Eala’s first gig since a 6(3)-7, 5-7 defeat against New Zealand’s Lulu Sun in the finals of the Wimbledon qualifiers.