Up next for Alex Eala is perhaps the biggest obstacle to her dream debut in the US Open main draw: Nuria Párrizas Díaz of Spain.
Pinay ace Alex Eala is two wins away from qualifying in her first-ever Grand Slam main draw after hacking out a gritty 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory over Maddison Inglis of Australia in the opening round of 2024 US Open qualifiers.
Eala went off hard early, opening a 3-0 advantage in the first set before Inglis caught up at 5-3 but eventually succumbed in the ninth game.
The 2023 Asian Games tennis mixed doubles bronze medalist then failed to hold serve twice in the second set and trailed 0-4.
Eala bucked a second-set stumble with a strong 5-0 start in the final set, capitalizing on Inglis’ errant service game on her way to a second-round clash with 15th seed Nuria Parrizas-Diaz of Spain.
The 19-year-old is coming off back-to-back quarterfinal exits in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournaments in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
Eala aims to become the first Filipina to qualify in the main draw of a major tennis tournament, coming so close twice earlier this year after falling one win short in both the French Open and Wimbledon Championships.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to her dream US Open main draw debut, Parrizas-Diaz is the highest seed in her bracket of the qualifying draw. Párrizas-Díaz has played multiple times in all four Grand Slam events and reached the third round of the Australian Open twice.
Their second-round clash is scheduled on early morning of Wednesday, August 21 (PH Time).
Just last month, Eala put up her best performance yet in her pro career, bagging the women's singles and doubles titles in the ITF W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain.
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