ALEX Eala, fresh off another feat of barging into the world’s Top 250 players, continued her relentless rise in the women’s professional circuit by fashioning out a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 first-round win to advance in the W60 Hamburg in Germany.
The Filipina pride bucked off a rough start and essayed the gutsy come-from-behind win over Russian counterpart Ekaterina Kazionova in two hours and 44 minutes for a running start in the $60,000 German tilt.
Up next for the 17-year-old ace is No. 1 seed Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium, who trounced Croatia’s Jana Fett, 6-4, 6-4, in her own opening-round assignment.
Ms. Eala, the WTA No. 248, and No. 118 Bonaventure were to play last night for a berth in the quarterfinals.
This is Ms. Eala’s fourth straight pro tournament after winning a historic juniors Grand Slam in the US Open last month to become the first Filipino to do so.
Earlier this month, she reached the Last 8 of the elite W80 Rancho Santa Fe in California that catapulted her to world No. 252 from No. 281 prior to resetting a new career-best at No. 248.
A scholar of the Rafael Nadal Academy, Ms. Eala is in hunt for a third pro title in a young career after reigning supreme in the 2021 W15 Manacor in Spain and 2022 W25 Chiang Rai in Thailand. — JB Ulanday
