
Alex Eala opened her US Open Juniors campaign with a bang after crushing American wildcard bet Charlotte Owensby, 6-3, 6-3, Tuesday (early Wednesday in Manila).
The second-seeded Eala, who earned an opening-round bye, needed only 66 minutes in dispatching her opponent to advance to the third round of this Grand Slam event.
Eala took advantage of Owensby’s erratic plays, winning five break points. The American struggled with six double faults and 25 unforced errors.
Eala, for her part, only managed 14 unforced errors.
The win set up the 16-year-old Eala a meeting with 15th seed Michaela Laki of Greece, who toppled United States’ Elizabeth Coleman, 6-0, 6-4.
Laki is currently ranked No. 18 in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior rankings who also finished in the third round of the French Open.
Incidentally, Eala and Laki will also be facing in the second round of the Girls Doubles with their respective partners.
Eala is seeded sixth with Belgian partner Hanne Vandewinkel while Laki and Slovakian Radka Zelnickova are coming off a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Americans Tatum Evans and Amelia Honer in the opening round.