By MARK REY MONTEJO
Alex Eala showed nerves of steel and stunned higher-ranked American Hailey Baptiste, 6-7(7), 7-6(7), 6-1, to barge into the main draw of the WTA 250 Lexus Eastbourne Open in Great Britain Sunday, June 22 (Philippine time).
Eala, the world No. 77, overcame a first-set hiccup by delivering strong serves and superb groundstrokes against the No. 56 Baptiste in their more than two hours of exciting contest where the first two sets were decided by tiebreak.
The 20-year-old Eala now challenges Italian Lucia Bronzetti in Round of 32 of the tournament.
The Filipina tennis wonder is fine-tuning for her second Grand Slam appearance at the Wimbledon later this month.
Prior to her hard-fought victory, Eala toppled Turkish Zeynep Sonmez, 6-1, 6-3, in the first round of the qualifiers.
The double bronze medalist in the Hangzhou Asian Games had a decent act in the first few minutes where she almost secured the first set but was only denied by Baptiste’s aggression in their exchanges.
Eala kept herself cool and intensified her attack in the second set to level the count at 1-set allbefore ultimately dominating her American foe in a lopsided
