MANILA, Philippines — Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala is going to the quarterfinal round of the W100 Cary in North Carolina after grinding out a 7-6(5), 7-6(4) win over Russia’s Oksana Selekhmeteva Thursday (Manila time).
Eala is going to another quarterfinal round a few days after crashing out of the W100 Landisville Final 8.
In a match that took more than two hours to finish, the 19-year-old Filipina dug deep and outlasted Selekhmeteva to set up a match with Mexico’s Renata Zarazua in the next round.
Eala came within a game to take the first set, 5-3, but her Russian opponent won the next three games to get on top, 6-5.
The Filipina then took the crucial 12th game to set up the tiebreak, which she eventually won to take the first set.
Almost the same happened in the second set, with Eala going up 5-4.
The 21-year-old Russian then tied it up at 5-all and again at 6-all to set up the tiebreak.
Eala had to break free from a 4-4 deadlock and win the next three points to grab the victory.
The quarterfinal clash between the Asian Games bronze medalist and Zarazua will be on early Thursday morning (Manila time).