Alex Eala stunned third seed Jaimee Fourlis of Australia, 6-1, 6-4, to storm into the semifinals of the W60 Madrid International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in Spain Friday.
Eala, 17, remained unfazed and showed her might by hitting strong on all the right angles to frustrate her more experienced rival, who was coming off back-to-back title victories at the W25 Madrid and W60 Brasov in Romania.
It will be Eala’s first semifinal appearance in a $60,000 tournament, having managed only in the second round after undergoing two qualifying matches in the W60 Grenoble in France last February.
The upset victory set up Eala a Final Four meeting with 16th seed Katherine Sebov of Canada, who surprised fifth seed Carole Monet of France, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Eala and Sebov haven’t met in an ITF tournament. The 23-year-old boasts of a higher ranking of No. 333 compared to Eala’s 413.
But Eala has two ITF titles against Sebov’s only one.