ALEX Eala of the Philippines has reached the main draw of the Guangzhou Open in China.
Now ranked no. 143 in the Women’s Tennis Association, Eala made the first round after hurdling two qualifying matches.
Eala first took down China’s Gao Xinyu on Sunday in three sets, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2, before breezing past Russian Elena Pridankina in two sets, 6-2, 6-2, on Monday.
This put Eala up against American Bernanda Pera in the Round of 32.
“Feeling great to be back in the main draw here in Guangzhou. Ready to make every moment count,” said Eala in her social media post.
Eala got past a 2-all deadlock in the last set during her clash with Pridankina to finish the match in 1 hour and 33 minutes.
The field in the main draw includes China’s third-highest ranked player and world No. 44 Yue Yuan and world No. 45 Elina Avanesyan of Armenia.
World No. 47 Marie Bouzkova and tournament top seed and world No. 48 Katerina Siniakova are also in the mix.
