Alex Eala rose from a second-set hiccup and edged Leyre Romero Gormaz of Spain, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, to book a quarterfinal berth in the French Open Juniors on Wednesday night.
The second-seeded Eala stormed back in the deciding frame, dropping her serve once for Romero’s lone game win before the Filipino bet secured the match in one hour and 48 minutes.
Eala attempted to sweep the match by crawling back from a 5-1 second-set deficit by winning the next three games, but Romero was able to hold her serve for the set victory.
This was Eala’s best singles performance at the Grand Slams, eclipsing her previous third-round finish at the 2020 Australian Open last January.
The victory arranged Eala a quarterfinals date with Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, who walloped France’s Flavie Brugnone, 6-1, 6-2.
Noskova boasts of three singles titles in clay last year and is currently No. 55 in the International Tennis Federation junior rankings.
Eala is seeking her second Grand Slams title after winning the 2020 Australian Open girls doubles title with Indonesian partner Priska Nugroho.