Photo from Alex Eala Facebook
MANILA, Philippines—Alex Eala advanced to the quarterfinal of the W25 Aldershot singles but a doubles championship remained elusive after bowing out in the quarterfinal round on Thursday (Manila time) in Great Britain.
The 18-year-old Filipino recovered from a first-set loss before eliminating Talia Gibson of Australia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, in the round of 16 of the singles tournament.
The No. 3 seed Eala broke a 4-4 tie in the second set to force a decider, where she trailed 2-3.
The Rafael Nadal Academy graduate won four straight games to complete her comeback and prevail in two hours and 49 minutes.
Eala, who is eyeing her second straight championship after ruling last week’s W25 Roehampton, battles American Jenna Defalco in the quarterfinal on Friday.
Photo from Alex Eala’s Facebook
She is also gunning for her fourth pro crown.
However, Eala and her Polish partner Urszula Radwanska bowed out in the semifinal round of the doubles tournament after falling to Japanese Saki Imamura and Erina Hayashi, 4-6, 4-6.
An International Tennis Federation (ITF) doubles crown remained elusive for Eala as she last made it to the finals in May 2021 in the W25 Platja D’Aro in Spain with partner Oksana Selekhmeteva.
Eala and Radwanska stunned the No.1 seed tandem of Emily Appleton and Lauryn John-Baptiste, 6-3, 7-5, only to be eliminated in the semis.