Alex Eala advances to W60 Nantes second round

Alex Eala in the W60 Nantes.

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala marched to the second round of the W60 Nantes after beating home netter Amandine Hesse, 6-3, 6-2, on Tuesday evening (Manila time) in France.

The 18-year-old Filipino dominated Hesse to get over the hump of back-to-back first-round exits in her last two International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournaments.

Eala got the better of the 30-year-old French netter in service as she won 41 service points against the latter’s 27.

The Rafael Nadal Academy graduate, currently World No. 193, battles Zeynep Sonmez of Turkiye in the round of 16 on Wednesday evening (Manila time).

Sonmez, Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranked 163, is the sixth seed of the tournament. She started her campaign with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win over local Chloe Noel.

Eala won a pair of bronze medals in the singles and mixed doubles event in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. But her return to the pro circuit tournaments ended with two consecutive first-round eliminations in the Jasmin Open and Scottish Open.

The Filipino prodigy is eyeing her first singles ITF crown since her last championship in the W25 Roehampton last August.

Eala on Monday bowed out in W60 Nantes doubles after she and her Indonesian partner Jessy Rompies fell to Russians Ekaterina Reyngold and Ekaterina Maklakova, 6-1, 3-6, 6-10.