By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala dug deep to her bag of tricks and turned back Taylah Preston of Australia, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, to advance to the third qualifying round of the 2024 French Open on Wednesday, May 22.
Down 2-4 in the deciding set, the Filipina caught her higher-ranked rival flat-footed with strong returns to move a win away from making into the main draw of the Grand Slam event – her long cherished dream.
She next faces world No. 93 Julia Riera of Argentina, who dumped hometown bet Harmony Tan, 6-3, 6-2.
Still in cloud nine over her first Grand Slam match victory against Ma Ye Xin of China in the opening round, 6-1, 6-1, the world No. 160 Eala held her composure against the 30th seed Preston in the match that lasted 2 hours and 22 minutes.
The 18-year-old Filipina tennis sensation stumbled in the opening frame after the Australian pulled away from a 4-all deadlock en route to the set victory.
But Eala returned more determined in the second set, crawling her way from a 2-4 deficit by claiming the next four games to extend the match into a decider.
She trailed Preston once again, but bounced back once again in great display of courage by winning three straight games to grab the upperhand, 5-4.
Preston refused to give up the fight and broke Eala’s serve to tie the game at 5, before the Filipino broke back for the match win.
