Tenth seed Alexandra “Alex” Eala of the Philippines pulled off twin wins on Wednesday (Thursday in the Philippines) to reach the girls’ singles quarterfinals and girl’s double second round of the US Open Juniors Tennis Championships.
The 17-year-old Eala, who is ranked no. 297 in the Women’s Tennis Association Tour, made it to the Round of 8 for a second straight year after she battled to a 6-2, 7-6 (1) upset win over a higher-ranked foe, no. 8 seed Taylah Preston of Australia at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York City.
Later in the day, Eala and Russian partner Mirra Andreeva opened their girls’ doubles campaign on a bright note.
Eala, who is seeking her third junior grand slam title in doubles, and Andreeva were in control when they eased out Americans Shannon Lam and Iva Jovic, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the Round of 16.
In the singles’ clash, the 16-year-old Preston forced six match ties in the second set and a decisive 13th game, at 6-all.
Eala held her ground in the tiebreak by scoring six straight points following a series of miscues from Preston (6-0). She finally clinched the win with a crosscourt backhand shot, which Preston sent to the net with her forehand return, 7-6 (6-1).
Eala will meet Andreeva, her 15-year-old doubles’ partner, in the quarterfinals.
After this, Eala and Andreeva will team up again for a clash with the German duo of Carolina Kuhl and Ella Seidel.
Eala, a former International Tennis Federation Juniors World No. 2, won the girls’ doubles championships at the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 Roland Garros.
A Rafa Nadal Academy player, Eala has two professional singles’ titles from the 2021 W15 Manacor in Spain and 2022 W25 Chiang Rai in Thailand.
