Alex Eala guns for twin victories Monday night to follow up her strong start at the French Open Juniors Championships over the weekend.
Coming from a 6-4, 6-1 dumping of Natalia Szabanin of Hungary which lasted 70 minutes in the tournament opener, the second-seeded Eala clashes with Mara Guth of Germany in the second round.
The unseeded Guth, for her part, listed a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over wildcard bet Sarah Iliev of France.
This will be the second time that Eala will be facing Guth.
The PH bet prevailed in their first encounter at the Osaka Mayor’s Cup World Super Junior Tennis Championships in Japan last year. Eala registered a 6-4, 6-3 win in their semifinal duel.
The 17-year-old Guth, who is two years older than Eala, is currently ranked No. 57 with two singles titles in clay under her belt: the 2019 TC Bakkum Dutch Junior Open in Netherlands and the 2018 NRW Junior Open in Germany.
Eala also starts her girls doubles campaign with United States’ Elina Kalieva on the same day (early Tuesday in Manila) when the third-seeded pair collides with Italian tandem Lisa Pigato and Eleonora Alvisi.
Eala is seeking to earn her second Grand Slam title after winning the 2020 Australian Open girls doubles crown with Indonesian partner Priska Nugroho last January.