Eala pulls off singles, doubles wins in W100 Vitoria Gasteiz tourney

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala kept her conquest in the singles and doubles play of the W100 Vitoria Gasteiz alive and kicking after separate wins in Spain Thursday evening (Manila time).

The Filipina tennis ace dug deep and swept hometown bet Lucia Cortez Llorca in two grueling sets, 7-5, 7-5, earlier in the day.

The 19-year-old started the match slowly, going down 4-1 as Cortez Llorca kept a steady stream of offense.

The Filipina, then, punched in a crucial win to save her set, but the Spanish bet moved to within a game to take the first set, 5-2.

The Asian Games bronze medalist, though, clawed her way back and blanked the 24-year-old the rest of the first set, 7-5.

Cortez Llorca appeared to recover from the dismal frame, going up 3-0 in the second set before Eala scored a much-needed win in the fourth game.

The former went up 4-1, but the latter won the next two games.

The Spanish moved to within a game from taking the second set anew, 5-3, before getting blanked anew as Eala punched her ticket to the quarterfinals.

The Filipina will be facing Ukraine’s Yulia Starodubtsewa in the quarters on Friday afternoon (Manila time).

A few hours later, Eala teamed up with France’s Estelle Cascino in doubles play and they went up against Czechia’s Victoria Bervid and Italy’s Laura Mair.

The Eala-Cascino duo made quick work of their opponents, 6-4, 6-1.

They will be facing Mexico’s Maria Jose Portillo Ramirez and Bolivia’s Noelia Zeballos in the semifinal.