Filipino tennis prodigy Alex Eala followed up her impressive showing in the professional scene after booking a semifinals berth at the ITF Manacor in Spain Friday, (Saturday, Manila time).
The 15-year-old Eala bested Carole Monnet of France, 19, in the quarterfinals, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, a day after an upset win over ITF Singles World No. 2 Seone Mendez.
Eala, the World No. 3 in the ITF Juniors, survived a three-hour and a minute duel with Monnet, ITF's No. 14, en route to her first semifinals appearance in the pro ranks.
The Filipino wunderkind struggled anew with her serves, double faulting 10 times, but bounced back and capitalized to break Monnet's serve on 57 percent efficiency.
The second set proved to be instrumental after Eala found her groove in service before gaining momentum in the third frame for the win.
Eala will be facing Hong Kong's Adithya Karunaratne, who defeated Colombian Emiliana Arango, 6-2, 6-3, later tonight.