Alex Eala marches on to W25 Madrid singles second round

FILE–Alex Eala. SEA GAMES POOL

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala advanced to the second round of the W25 Madrid singles, but suffered a quarterfinal exit in the doubles on Wednesday at Ciudad de la Raqueta in Spain.

The Filipino prodigy averted a slow start before taking down Romania’s Arina Gabriela Vasilescu, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, to march on in the  singles tournament.

Eala, Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) World No. 419, recovered from a first set loss before dominating the 25-year-old Romanian, who ranks No. 605 in the world.

The 17-year-old Rafael Nadal Academy scholar will take on No. 4 seed Xiaodi You of China in the second round on Thursday.

However, Eala and her French partner Alice Robbe got eliminated in the doubles quarterfinals, falling to  Zoe Hives of Australia and Katherine Sebov of Canada, 0-6, 4-6.

Eala and Robbe stunned No.3  Alana Parnaby and Ivana Popovic of Australia, 6-3, 6-3, in the opening round on Tuesday.

It was the second quarterfinal exit of Eala and Robbe after their stint in the W25 Macon last February.