Teen sensation Alex Eala weathered a big rally at the tiebreak in the third set to eke out a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10-8) upset of seventh seed Cristina Bucsa of Spain.
This enabled the 15-year-old Eala to advance to the quarterfinal round of the W25 Trophee De La Ville De Grenoble on Wednesday afternoon (Thursday in Manila) in Grenoble, France.
It was over after two hours and 33 minutes as soon as Eala fought her way out of four deadlocks in the 13th deciding game of the third set.
Eala was able to send in 70 of 98 first serves and scored 44 points from her attacks.
After the 23-year-old Brusca forced a 6-all deadlock in the 13th game, Eala managed to push ahead, 6-3.
Then, the 164th World Tennis Association-ranked Brusca held her ground to take the next four points on her turn at service.
After Brusca tied the match for the last time at 8-all, Eala stood her ground, settling the issue by taking the last two game points.
Eala made it to the second round round after she eased out Laura Ioana Paar of Romania, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, on Tuesday.
Fifth seed Swiss Viktorija Golubic beat Italian Camilla Rosatello, 6-4, 6-0, to join Eala in the next round.
Eala is on her third year of training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain.
Nadal posted praises on Eala online when she won her first professional title in just sixth professional appearances at an International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour women’s event last month.