Alex Eala matched the intensity of German top seed Silvia Ambrosio to pull off a 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 6-3, yesterday in the third round of the third and final leg of the International Tennis Federation’s W15 Manacor, in Mallorca, Spain.
The left-handed Eala needed two hours and 48 minutes to get past the 24-year-old Ambrosio, who recovered from a first-set set loss by racing to a 5-0 lead in the next set.
The 15-year-old Eala held her ground in the third set and matched Ambrosio’s energetic pace with her attacks.
Eala, ranked 942nd in the world, came rushing to the net in the last stages of every game in the second and moved ahead, 4-0, with her aggressive stance before letting the Spaniard to score a game point twice
Then, Eala’s steady game at the baseline allowed her to take the last two game points.
It was Eala’s first win in her first head-to-head encounter with Ambrosio, who could only connect with 43 points out of 70 successful first serves.
This put Eala up against Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia in the quarterfinals.
The no. 611 WTA-ranked Selekhmeteva advanced to a clash with Eala after a 6-4, 7-5 win over Danish netter Olga Helml.
Eala advanced to the second round when she repulsed Ana Lantigua De La Nuez of Spain, 6-0, 6-2, on Wednesday night, in the opener.