By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala bucked an opening-set defeat to stun second seed Eva Lys of Germany, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, and advance to the quarterfinals at the W60 Barcelona in Spain on Thursday, Aug. 4 (Friday in Manila).
The unseeded Eala recovered from a rough start and went on to dominate her higher-ranked rival to set up a Round-of-8 meeting with wildcard bet Georgina Garcia-Perez of Spain.
Like Eala, Garcia-Perez needed an extra set in beating Finland’s Anastasia Kulikova, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2.
This marks the first time in the ITF pro circuit that Eala and Garcia-Perez would meet, with the 18-year-old Filipina boasting of a higher ranking of No. 248 compared to the 31-year-old’s No. 369.
In doubles, Eala and her British partner Emilie Lindh yielded to third seed Estelle Cascino of France and Diana Marcinkevica of Latvia, 4-6, 6-3, 10-3, in the opening round.
Eala is on the hunt for a third singles title and first doubles in the ITF circuit.
