Alex Eala and Lithuanian partner Justina Mikulskyte made their title campaign felt in the women’s doubles after thrashing their Slovakian counterparts in the W60 Trnava 2^nd Empire Women’s Indoor Tennis Tournament in Slovakia Wednesday, March 8 (Thursday in Manila).

The unseeded duo displayed chemistry in ousting hometown bets Ela Platenikova and Nina Vargova, 6-1, 6-0, to barge into the quarterfinals of the $60,000 event.

Wasting no time in routing their rivals, Eala and Mikulskyte’s triumph arranged a meeting with fourth seed Vivian Heisen and Julia Lohoff.

The German tandem had to dig deep in outlasting Russian Maria Bondarenko and Romanian Ilona Georgiana Ghioroaie, 6-4, 7-5.

Meanwhile, Eala currently plays Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal in the second round singles after an easy 6-1, 6-0 upset victory over Spain’s Leyre Romero Gormaz Tuesday, March 7 (Wednesday in Manila).

A singles victory for Eala would book her a quarters seat and would arrange her a date with the winner between Serbian qualifier Lola Radivojevic and Ukrainian fourth pick Daria Snigur.

Both Radivojevic and Snigur swept their first-round foes, with the Serbian besting fellow qualifier Elena Malygina of Estonia, 7-5, 6-1, and the Ukrainian edging wildcard bet Renata Jamrichova of Serbia.

This was only Eala’s fourth appearance in the pro circuit this year as she aims for a third career pro title following victories in the W15 Manacor in 2021 and W25 Chiang Rai last year.