By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala capped off her International Tennis Federation (ITF) W50 1st Empire Women’s Indoor tournament with twin quarterfinal qualifications in Trnava, Slovakia, on March 2, 2024.
Eala managed to enter the quarterfinal round of the ITF major tournament in both the women’s singles and doubles categories.
In the women’s singles event, Eala fell at the hands of Anastasiia Gureva of Russia in three grueling sets- 6.2, 3.6, 7.6-.
Meanwhile, during her doubles event together with her Russian partner Zeynep Sonmez, they were handed a different fate after getting swept by the pairing of Lulu Sun of Switzerland and Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima- 6.2, 6.2-.
Despite the back-to-back losses on the same day, Eala still wrapped up another international ITF stint with a convincing finish.
Before exiting the women’s singles event, Eala was off to a dominant start after sweeping all of her opponents during the Round of 32 and Round of 16 preliminary stages.
Eala began her singles quest with a flawless victory over Anna Bondar- 6.3, 6.1- and another 2-0 victory over Lina Gjorcheska in the Round of 16- 6.4, 6.2-.
However, Eala had to deal with a rough start against Gureva after conceding two straight service possessions that left her with an early 0-4 hole.
The Russian teen then capitalized on Eala’s unforced errors to advance to the semifinals of the ITF tourney in Slovakia.
Eala will look to bounce back and begin her hunt for another ITF championship trophy today, as she remains in Slovakia for the ITF W75 2nd Empire Women’s Indoor tournament.
