By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala opened her campaign in the W25+H Palma del Rio in grand style after winning the first round of her singles and doubles matches Wednesday in Spain.
The 17-year-old Eala trounced Chile’s Jimar Geraldine Gerald Gonzalez, 6-2, 6-0, in the singles event before teaming up with hometown bet Marina Bassols Ribera to defeat Spaniards Adriana Cortes and Patricia Rodriguez Carretero, 6-0, 6-0, in the doubles.
Eala’s singles victory set her up a second round meeting with the winner between Valeria Savinykh and second seed Jessika Ponchet, who are still playing at presstime.
In the doubles where they are seeded fourth, she and Ribera next collide with Spain’s Marta Huqi Gonzalez Encina and United States’ Ashley Lahey, who routed Spain’s Ariana Geerlings and Estonia’s Elizabeth Jurna, 6-3, 6-2.
Eala is coming off an impressive week at the W60 Madrid also in Spain where she had a runner-up finish against her doubles partner this week, Ribera.
