Alex Eala cruises past Swedish ace to barge into quarterfinals of Manacor tilt


Photo from Rafa Nadal Academy


Teen wonder Alex Eala continued her rampage in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s World Tennis Tour after cruising into the quarterfinals of the W15 Manacor event in Spain Thursday night.

Still in cloud nine from her three-set upset victory over second seed Mirjam Bjorklund of Sweden in the opening round, the 15-year-old Eala wasted no time in disposing of Spaniard Alba Carrillo Marin, 6-2, 6-3, in this $15,000 tournament.

The PH bet banked on her strong baseline game, needing only one hour and 23 minutes to rule her 24-year-old opponent.

Down 2-1 in the second set, Eala rose to the challenge by dominating the next three games to take the 4-2 lead.

Carillo Marin held her serve in the seventh game, but it turned out to be her last stand as Eala regained her rhythm en route to the victory.

Eala next faces seventh seed Ylena In-Albon of Switzerland, who edged Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands, 6-3, 6-2.

In-Albon, 21, is currently ranked 432 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) with seven singles titles including a $25,000 tournament in Setubal, Portugal in 2019.

Eala seeks back-to-back women’s crowns after capturing her first pro title in the first leg of this tournament over the weekend.