FILE — Alex Eala—PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL EALA
MANILA, Philippines—Alex Eala scored another upset win over veteran Laura-Iona Paar, taking down the Romanian pro 6(6)-7, 6-1, 6-0, in the second round of the ITF W60 Bellinzona tourney in Switzerland Thursday (Manila time).
After a back-and-forth first set, Eala found her second wind and proceeded to dismantle her 32-year-old opponent in the ensuing sets to advance to the third round and set up a matchup against Switzerland’s Simona Waltert.
Eala’s win against Paar was her second against the WTA no. 260.
We can see your smile 😃 behind the mask! In her first appearance in an @ITFTennis 60.000 tournament Alex Eala 🇵🇭 has reached the second round in Bellinzona 🇨🇭after winning her first match 7-6, 6-4 against Margot Yerolimos. VAMOS‼️ MABUHAY‼️ pic.twitter.com/Ayf1TCQ1VA
— Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar (@rnadalacademy) April 6, 2021
The 15-year-old had her first victory against Paar in the W25 tiff in Grenoble where Eala won the match in three sets.
Eala and Waltert had two matches against each other this year with the two splitting wins.
Waltert was the last to win in their head-to-head, defeating Eala 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 in the W15 Manacor while Eala scored first with a dominant 6-1, 6-4 victory in the W25 Manacor tournament.