Filipina bet Alexander Eala found her momentum in the second set to beat Canadian Katherine Sebov, 7-6 (6), 6-2, to reach the Round of 16 of the W80 RSF Pro Open on Thursday (Friday in Manila) at the Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club in California.
The 17-year-old Eala overcame seven double faults in hurdling Sebov, to make it to the quarterfinal round.
Twenty-year-old Mexican national team player Marcela Zacarias, owner of 16 pro titles, will be her next opponent in the battle for a semifinals berth.
The world no. 281 Eala took two hours and 22 minutes to get past Sebov, who is ranked no.280 in the world.
Eala managed to send 34 of 59 first serves and made 18 points out of them.
She earned the tiebreak in the first after getting past a 3-4 deficit, winning four straight points, to win the 13th game and the set.
Sebov earlier disposed of seventh seed and fellow Canadian Carol Zhao, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, to arrange a clash with Eala.