By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
It was a case of third time lucky for Alex Eala.
With vengeance in her eyes after losing twice in their personal duel, Eala finally solved the puzzle and beat French rival Jessika Ponchet, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6) to advance to the second round of the W80 Poitiers tournament in France Tuesday, Oct. 25.
The 17-year-old Eala waxed hot in the opening set with her strong baseline game before Ponchet regained her composure and bested the Filipina tennis sensation in a tense second round duel.
The third set was another dogfight but the reigning US Open Juniors champion held her ground in the crucial tiebreaker to finally prevail and exact sweet revenge.
Eala lost to the Frenchwoman in two tournaments in Spain this year.
She will next face the winner between wildcard bet Marine Partaud and eighth seed Vitalia Diatchenko.
Eala and Croatian partner Petra Marcinko also made their doubles campaign felt with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Russians Yuliya Hatouka and Iryna Shymanovich to advance to the quarterfinals.
They will next clash with third seed Miriam Kolodziejova and Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, who earned an opening round bye.
