ALEX EALA ADVANCES TO THIRD ROUND OF US OPEN DEBUT
Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala cruised to the third round of the US Open Juniors Tournament after defeating home bet Charlotte Owensby, 6-3, 6-3, on Wednesday (Manila time) at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
Junior World No. 2 Eala got off to a slow start in the opening set before tying it 3-3 and picking up the pace to sweep the next four games in her favor.
Owensby took another 2-0 lead in the second set but Eala broke her momentum and won the next two games to tie the match at 2-2.
They tied again at 3-3 before Eala took control of the 66-minute match and finished on the winning side.
The 16-year old Eala will take on 15th seed Michaela Laki of Greece in the third round.
Eala and her partner Belgian Hanne Vandewinkel will be facing Laki Slovakian Radka Zelnickova in the Round of 16.
The Filipino-Belgian tandem earned a bye in the Round of 32 and was seeded at sixth in the tournament.