By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala recovered from a second-set hiccup and downed Russian qualifier Ekaterina Yashina, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (4), 6-0, to advance to the quarterfinals of the W50 Indore International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in India on Thursday, Feb. 1.
The third-seeded Eala came close to sweeping the set but Yashina’s hard serves forced the match into a decider, where the 18-year-old Filipina standout found her second wind to dominate the match.
The victory arranged Eala a meeting with the winner between Romanian sixth seed Anca Alexia Todoni and Japanese Rina Saigo, who were battling at press time.
Eala fired five aces but these went to naught as she stumbled to 10 double faults. The Russian had seven aces and nine double faults.
But it was Eala who dictated the pace in the critical period, coming through with big shots that all but disarmed her foe.
Prior to the win, Eala opened her campaign in the $50,000 event with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kazakhstan’s Zhibek Kulambayeva.
Eala eyes another successful week after winning her first pro doubles title over the weekend at the W50 Pune also in India with Latvian partner Darja Semenistaja.
