By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Alex Eala is currently on a roll after booking another International Tennis Federation (ITF) quarterfinal spot in the ongoing W25 Aldershot GB Pro Series held in Great Britain.
The 18-year-old Filipina ace overcame an early setback and showed poise under pressure when she pulled off a reverse sweep in three sets- 4.6, 6.4, 6.3- against Talia Gibson of Australia last August 17, 2023.
Fresh off scoring twin wins in the singles and doubles category of the GB Pro Series two days ago, Eala showed another resilient outing when she went down in the opening set.
Eala had a rough start against the Australian after giving up her first service possession that helped Gibson build a 3-1 lead in the first set.
Despite Eala countering back with a break-point to equalize the set at 3-all, Gibson threw the early hammer after staying consistent with her baseline hits to gain an early 1-0 lead.
It was a different story in the second set as Eala flipped the switch by sticking to her groundstroke offense.
Eala lessened going to the net which was always favorable to the Australian star after several smash winners off the Filipina’s top-spin lob shot.
With the adjustments Eala made, Gibson was put in a difficult situation as she couldn’t handle the Filipina’s power during their long baseline rally exchanges.
Gibson attempted to give Eala a different look when the third set started and kicked off with back-to-back drop shots.
To answer, Eala threw three-straight down-the-line forehands which all resulted in winners capped off by a thundering off-the-bounce hit.
Gibson tried to claw her way back after using the serve-and-volley technique but Eala just steamrolled in the last 10 minutes of the duel to complete the Round of 16 comeback win.
