Alex Eala crushed hometown bet Ranah Akua Stoiber, 6-3, 6-1, to advance to the second qualifying round of the W100 Shrewsbury tournament in Great Britain Sunday, Oct. 30.
Eala easily dominated her rival to set up a meeting with another British in Mala Lumsden, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over compatriot Emma Wilson.
Another victory would earn Eala a main draw berth in the $100,000 tournament, which currently has five top 100 players in its acceptance list.
Among those are No. 45 Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine, No. 7 Tatjana Maria of Germany, No. 89 Dalma Galfi of Hungary, No. 91 Marketa Vondrousova of Czech Republic, and No. 93 Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria.
Eala and Lumsden had never met in the pro circuit. The 17-year-old Filipina is on a chase for her third pro title while the British netter has three International Tennis Federation titles – the last one in 2018 in a $25,000 event also in Shrewsbury.
She almost won her fourth crown in the W25 Nottingham last July, but lost in the final to Australian Priscilla Hon in three sets.
While Lumsden has more titles than Eala, the PH bet boasts of a higher career ranking at No. 248 compared to the British’s No. 578.
Eala is also coming off an impressive semifinal finish at the W80 Poitiers in France where she also went through two qualifying rounds.