Alex Eala opened the grass season on a winning note by routing her British rival in the first qualifying round of the Rothesay Open Nottingham Tennis Tournament in Great Britain.

The 19-year-old Eala whipped Sarah Beth Grey, 6-3, 6-4, to move a win away from barging into the main draw round of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 250 event.

The triumph arranged her a meeting with Ena Shibahara of Japan, who edged Australia’s Maddison Inglis, 7-6 (1), 6-2.

This was Eala’s first victory since competing in the Roland Garros claycourts of the French Open, where she came one win close to booking a main draw berth.

She saw action at the 2024 Makarska Open, a WTA125 event, in Croatia a few days ago, but was unsuccessful after losing in three sets to Russian Maria Timofeeva in the opening round.

Eala hopes her French Open stint would improve her current world singles ranking at No. 157 -- a career-high since late last month.

She currently has four International Tennis Federation (ITF) singles titles and two ITF doubles crowns.