SECOND seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines will meet an older rival almost double her age in Varvara Lepchenko of the United States for first time in her second-round match at Guadalajara Open 125 in Mexico.
The 20-year-old Eala set up a showdown with the 39-year-old Lepchenko after she took 69 minutes to get past Dutch rival Arianne Hartono, 6-2, 6-2, in her opening game on Wednesday (Manila time).
The unseeded Lepchenko will challenge Eala after she disposed of Australian Madison Inglis, 6-4, 6-1 at the Panamerican Tennis Center in Zapopan.
The Uzbekistani-born American Lepchenko was born on May 21, 1986, in Tashkent, in what was then the Soviet Union. Lepchenko moved to the United States and became a U.S. citizen in 2011.
She has represented the United States in the Olympics and the Billie Jean King Cup.
Throughout her career, Lepchenko has reached a career-high ranking of No. 19 in the world in 2012. Her best Grand Slam results include reaching the fourth round of the French Open in 2012 and the US Open in 2015. She has won one singles’ title on the WTA Challenger Tour and multiple singles and one doubles title on the ITF Women’s Circuit.
Lepchenko has been involved in two anti-doping cases, the first one in 2016, when she tested positive for meldonium, but was found to be not at fault.
In 2021, she tested positive for a stimulant, which led to a provisional four-year suspension. She appealed the suspension that was eventually reduced to 21 months after she provided evidence that the positive test was caused by a contaminated supplement.
She returned to competition in May 2023.
Eala became the highest-seeded player in the tournament after Victoria Jimenez-Kasintseva toppled defending champion, top seed and world’s no. 51 Kamilla Rakhimova, 6-1, 7-6 (2).
Scoring 20 points of her 30 first serves, Eala advanced to the last 16 in the WTA 125 netfest at the Pan American Tennis Center in Zapopan.
It was Eala’s fourth win in as many matches against the same foe and the second this year, counting their last encounter at the Bengaluru netfest back in January, when the Filipina sensation prevailed, 6-2, 6-1.
Eala took the momentum with her 3-1 lead in the first set after she broke Hartono twice.
Eala, now ranked at no. 75 in the world, is seeking her first WTA crown after becoming the first Filipino to win a Grand Slam main draw match in the recent US Open.
Third seed Emiliana Arango also advanced after she disposed of Italian Lucrezzia Stefanini, 7-6 (3), 6-0.
