MANILA, Philippines – Teen tennis star Alex Eala copped her first career ITF juniors Grade A title on Sunday, September 22, in the 18 & under Tennis South Africa-Capetown tournament. 

Eala, 14, bested the tournament’s No.1 seed Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-3, in the women’s singles event. 

The Filipina also teamed up with American Elvina Kalieva in the women’s doubles event, where they reached the semifinals but fell to eventual champions Ziva Falkner of Slovenia and Matilda Mutavdzic of Great Britain in a three-set thriller, 7-6 (3), 0-6, 10-8. 

This feat came 3 weeks after Eala earned a maiden US Open berth and became the first Filipino to qualify for a Grand Slam tournament since Jeson Patrombon in 2011. 

Eala, a Rafael Nadal Academy scholar, further boosted her bid for a maiden berth in the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, which the Philippines will host from November 30 to December 11.

The SEA Games tennis tournament will be held from December 1 to 7 at the Rizal Memorial tennis courts in Manila. – Rappler.com