REYNALD MAGALLON

Alex Eala overcame an opening set hiccup and beat French qualifier Nahia Berecoechea, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 to barge into the quarterfinals of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) W25 Yecla in Spain on Friday, June 2 (Manila time).

The country’s sports princess showed great resilience as she also recovered from an early third set deficit on the way to matching her best finish of the season after also reaching the quarterfinals of the ITF W25 Monastir in Tunisia last week.

Eala actually got off to a good start taking an early 2-1 lead before rain momentarily halted the contest late.

Berecoechea made sure to take advantage of the situation, breaking Eala’s serve the rest of the way to take the opening set.

The 2022 US Open girls’ singles champions, however, was unfazed, getting her bearings going once again, taking an early 5-0 lead. Berecoechea ended the dry spell after taking a game from Eala but the Filipina broke the French to level the contest at 1-set apiece.

Even with the momentum back on Eala’s side however, she still found herself trailing in the decider, 1-2, before finally seizing control of the match by taking the last five games.

With the win, Eala sets up a clash against Mexico’s 28-year-old Victoria Rodriguez in the quarterfinals as she hopes to follow up her second pro title she won in the W25 Chang Rai in Thailand last year.

Rodriguez though is certainly not a pushover for the second-seed Filipina, having won ITFsingles title nine times already in the past.