Alex Eala seeks to inch closer to her second Grand Slam title when she tangles with Linda Noskova of Czech Republic Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the French Open Juniors.
The second-seeded Eala rose from a second-set hiccup and edged Spain’s Leyre Romero Gormaz, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, for a spot in the Final 8 – her best Grand Slam singles performance after a third-round finish at the 2020 Australian Open in January.
This was Eala’s best performance at the Grand Slams, eclipsing her previous third-round finish at the 2020 Australian Open last January.
Eala’s feat has so far matched the second best performance of a Filipino at the Grand Slam singles courtesy of Jeson Patrombon, who made it to the quarters of the 2011 Australian Open boys singles.
Felix Barrientos is currently the best performing Filipino at the Grand Slam singles after making into the semifinals of the 1985 Wimbledon boys singles.
While Eala had to dig deep to survive Romero, Noskova cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 thrashing of France’s Flavie Brugnone also for her best Grand Slam performance so far.
This is the second time that Eala and Noskova, both 15, are meeting with the PH bet beating the Czech player in the Les Petits As-Le Mondial Lacoste girls singles finals in France, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6.
Eala is currently No. 4 in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) juniors, while Noskova is at a career-high No. 33.
The Czech also boasts of three titles in clay last year in tournaments rated Grade 2, two rungs below the Grand Slam.
Eala, for her part, draws strength from her training at the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy as well as her 2020 Australian Open girls doubles title last January.