Alex Eala, a rising Filipino tennis player, defeated Lesia Tsurenko, currently ranked 41st in the world, in what may have been one of her greatest professional victories in her entire tennis career, winning with a record of 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the Mutua Madrid Open’s next round of competitions.
In the opening set, Tsurenko demonstrated her dominance over the 18-year-old. Despite the strong start, Eala exhibited determination in the second set. Following losses of 0–2 and 2-4 due to a mistake by Eala, the 34-year-old Ukrainian tied the set at 4-all.
Eala won two games
The match was tied at one after the Eala won the following two games. Tsurenko took a 4-3 lead in the third set when the bronze medallist from the Asian Games made a mistake.
To advance to the next round of the tournament, Eala fought hard and won the next three games, which were highlighted by a mistake made by her opponent.
In the round of 64, Eala—who is presently ranked 170th in the world—will go up against Sorana Cirstea. Cirstea is presently ranked 31st in the world for women’s tennis. The winner of the round of 62 will take on either World No. 52 Xiyu Wang or World No.1 Iga Swiatek.
In her Instagram post, Eala posted: “Third times the charm… A first round win here in @mutuamadridopen!! First WTA1000 main draw win hehe… Vamoss! Pumped to go back for round.”
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Cover Photo: IG
Source: Philstar