Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 6) – Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala progressed in the third round of the 2020 French Open girls’ singles competition after edging Mara Guth of Germany, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, Tuesday morning (Philippine time) at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France.
The 15-year old tennis star easily dominated the German in the first set, displaying an outstanding 83 percent on first serve points.
Guth resurrected in the second set and engaged Eala in a see-saw battle. The 17-year old German took a crucial break in the 11th game and swept the Filipina in the 12th game to tie the game.
The match was delayed by rains, however, after the second set which forced Eala and Guth to wait for many hours for the deciding set.
The match postponement did little to affect the energy of Eala and Guth as both engaged in a tight battle, with the German grabbing the lead at 4-3.
But Eala utilized her brilliance in scoring first serve points, marked at 90 percent in the deciding set, to win three straight games. This sealed her ticket to the third round of the prestigious tournament.
The young Filipna tennis star, ranked fourth in the world in the International Tennis Federation girls juniors rankings, will next face Spain’s Leyre Romero Gormaz.
Eala, a student at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain, previously beat Hungary’s Natalia Szabanin, 6-4, 6-1, on Sunday morning (Philippine time) to open her 2020 French Open campaign.
Eala will also compete in the girls’ doubles competition at Roland Garros together with Elvina Kalieva of the United States as the third seed.
