At A Glance
- Alex Eala survived Frenchwoman Carole Monet's second-set rally to prevail 6-3, 7-5 and advance to the second round of the Veneto Open in Gaiba, Italy on Tuesday, June 18.
Alex Eala survived Frenchwoman Carole Monet’s second-set rally to prevail 6-3, 7-5 and advance to the second round of the Veneto Open in Gaiba, Italy on Tuesday, June 18.

The unseeded Eala took advantage of Monet’s erratic serves to barge into the Round of 16 in this Women’s Tennis Association (WTA125) event.
The victory set up the 19-year-old Eala a meeting with Italy’s Giorgia Pedone, who made it to the next round after her sixth-seeded rival Hailey Baptiste of the United States retired in the second set while trailing 6-1, 1-0.
This is the second tournament for Eala in the grass season after seeing action at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham, Great Britain last week where she finished in the second qualifying round with a three-set loss to Japan’s Ena Shibahara.
“Learning my way on the field,” Eala wrote on social media.
On paper, Eala is ahead of Pedone with the Filipina’s current WTA singles ranking at No. 169 compared to the Italian’s No. 307. It was Pedone’s first grasscourt event this season as she aims to follow up from winning her first pro title last year at the W25 Santa Margherita di Pula in Italy.
Eala, for her part, has yet to win a title on grass after claiming all her four singles and two doubles titles on hardcourt in International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournaments.
She has also yet to win her first singles crown this season after triumphing in the doubles twice -- at the W75 Croissy-Beaubourg and W50 Pune with different partners.