At A Glance
- Alex Eala and Latvian partner Darja Semenistaja recovered from a first-set hiccup to barge into the quarterfinal of the Necc-Deccan ITF Pune women's doubles opening round against Taiwan's Yu-Yun Li and Japan's Eri Shimizu, 6-7 (7-9), 6-1, 10-7, in India on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
Alex Eala and Latvian partner Darja Semenistaja recovered from a first set hiccup to barge into the quarterfinals of the Necc-Deccan ITF Pune women’s doubles opening round against Taiwan’s Yu-Yun Li and Japan’s Eri Shimizu, 6-7 (7), 6-1, 10-7, in India on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
The triumph came two weeks after the Filipina tennis star suffered an early exit in the qualifying round of the 2024 Australian Open.

The Filipina-Latvian duo got their act right in the following set after untangling themselves from a 1-all deadlock to crush their Taiwanese-Japanese counterparts and force a deciding set.
Locked at 3-all in the deciding set, Eala and Semenistaja maintained their composure and momentum en route to the victory.
The 18-year-old Eala, who is currently ranked No. 187 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, will resume action on Thursday, Jan. 25 when she and Semenistaja clash with American Jessie Aney and German Lena Papadaki in the next round.
Meanwhile, Eala is facing world No. 260 Fanny Stollár of Italy in the singles competition at press time.