Top Filipino junior netter Alex Eala kept her Grand Slam title campaign alive by edging past Julie Belgraver of France, 6-0, 3-6, 6-1, to reach the third round of the 2020 Australian Open Junior Championships Tuesday in Melbourne.
Like in her opening day match, Eala fired from almost all angles to win the first set with nary a trouble.
But her rival refused to give up the fight easily and engaged the Filipina netter in furious exchange of shots before claiming a crucial point to force a decider.
Eala, however, summoned her remaining strength in the third to prevail convincingly.
For advancing to the third round, Eala made a history of sort as she bettered her last year’s showing in the US Open where she reached the second round.
The win came a day after the 14-year-old Eala and Indonesian partner Priska Madelyn Nugroho survived a tough 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 victory over Elina Avanesyan of Russia and Liubov Kostenko of Ukraine in the girls doubles opening round.
Eala and Nugroho currently play Belgraver and Slovakia’s Pia Lovric in the second round at press time.
Eala’s singles victory, meanwhile, set her up a third-round match against Hong Kong’s Hong Yi Cody Wong, a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 winner over Kostenko.
