By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala resumed her quest for a third pro title with a bang, trouncing Latvia’s Deniza Marcinkevica, 6-1, 6-3, to advance to the second qualifying round of the W80 Rancho Santa Fe International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in California Monday, Oct. 3 (Tuesday in Manila).
Eala, 17, encountered little problem in beating her rival – thanks to her consistent serve and volley game.
The victory arranged the reigning US Open juniors champion a meeting with American Alana Smith, who crushed Japanese Hiroko Kuwata, 6-3, 6-1.
This was the first time that Eala is competing in an $80,000 tournament with 10 players in the acceptance list ranked in the Top 200.
Among them are top seed Rebecca Peterson of Sweden, owner of 14 ITF singles titles, world No. 107 Yue Yuan of China, No. 112 Katie Volynets of the United States, No. 156 Arianne Hartono of the Netherlands, and American No. 158 Caroline Dolehide, to name a few.
Eala earned a slot in the qualifiers on account of her ranking – No. 288.
Eala failed to get past the second round in last week’s W60 Templeton in California, an event where she secured a wildcard.
Prior to that, she also played in the W100 Grodzisk Mazowiecki in Poland where she also finished in the second round.
