Filipina teen tennis sensation Alex Eala took her preparations for the 2021 French Open tournament up a notch, joining both the singles and doubles tournaments of the women’s $25,000 Platja D’aro in Spain.

Eala was accepted in the main draw of the 2021 French Open juniors tournament where she hopes to surpass her breakthrough semifinal finish in the previous edition’s girls singles event.

On Wednesday, May 19 (Thursday, May 20, Manila time), Eala defeated home bet Alba Carrillo-Marin, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, in a match that lasted past three hours.

As Eala progressed further in the clay tournament, she now holds a 3-0 head-to-head record over the 25-year-old Spaniard.

She is set to face another home bet Irene Burillo Escorihuela in the second round.

Eala kicked off the women’s tournament on Tuesday, May 18 in her first ever pro doubles event, where she partnered with Russian star Oksana Selekhmeteva.

The all-star duo pummeled the pair of Valeria Koussenkova of Spain and South Africa’s Warona Mdlulwa, 6-2, 6-0, to immediately nail a quarterfinal berth in the tournament.

The Filipina tennis ace’s first encounter with Selekhmeteva was in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Rafael Nadal Academy World Tennis Tour women’s $15,000 last February, where she fell to the Russian in the quarterfinals.

Eala was able to qualify for the main draw of the Platja D’aro event via the junior exempt program.

This is where the top-ranked juniors players are allotted a number of pro tournament spots within the year. – Rappler.com