Alex Eala gets another win at the Sao Paulo Open in Brazil after a two-set conquest of Argentina’s Julia Riera.
Alex Eala is through to the quarterfinals of the Sao Paulo Open in Brazil, after beating Argentina’s Julia Riera in two sets, 6-1, 6-4, in the Round of 16 on Wednesday (early Thursday morning, Manila time).
Eala extended her win streak to seven games and continues to chase her first WTA 250 title after previously winning a WTA Challenger title in Guadalajara last week.
The 20-year-old started out strong in the opening set, when she zoomed to a 4-0 lead after breaking the Argentine’s serve.
Though Riera broke her right back in Game 5 to get herself on the board, 1-4, it only delayed the inevitable as Eala won back-to-back games to take the set and the advantage, 6-1.
It was more of a challenge for Eala in Set 2 as she needed to play catch up against Riera who held the early 2-1 advantage.
But Eala won three consecutive games to flip the script on the Argentine hitter, 4-2.
While Riera would close the gap to one game twice more in Set 2, Eala was able to clinch the victory and finish off her foe after three match points, 6-4.
Eala needed an hour and 18 minutes to take care of business against Riera.
Eala faces off against fellow Southeast Asian Janice Tjen of Indonesia in the quarterfinals later this week.
Tjen is coming off of a second round appearance at the US Open where she highlighted her campaign with a first round upset over 24-seed Veronika Kudermetova.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.