Alex Eala overcame a tough challenger in Michaela Laki of Greece to reach the 2021 US Open girls singles quarterfinals on Wednesday, September 8 (Thursday, September 9, Manila time) on Court 12 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.

The Filipina teen tennis sensation rallied from a set down to defeat No. 15 seed Laki, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, in the third round of the girls singles event.

Eala fought off a slow start after trailing the Greek, 2-5, to get within a game away from extending the first set. But Laki denied the Filipina’s comeback by taking the opening set.

Though Eala came off stronger in the second set after going up 3-1, Laki did not let the Filipino off the hook as she managed to knot the score at 4-4.

The Greek came close to sweeping Eala, but the Filipina held her off by equalizing at 5-5 and scored back-to-back games to take control of the match.

Eala found her footing in the decider and was two points away from sealing the match at 5-2, but Laki delayed Eala’s conquest with back-to-back games.

Eala broke serve to seal the win after Laki attempted to win back the momentum with a third straight game.

The juniors world No. 2 and Belgian partner Hanne Vandewinkel faced Laki again with her partner Radka Zelnickova of Slovakia in the doubles event later in the day, with the Eala-Vandewinkel tandem winning with a 6-3, 3-6, 10-6 decision.

Eala is seeing action at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2019 as organizers canceled the 2020 juniors tournament over coronavirus fears.

The Rafael Nadal Academy scholar is aiming for her third Grand Slam title after her 2021 French Open juniors doubles conquest with Russian partner Oksana Selekhmeteva.

Eala won her first Grand Slam title in the 2020 Australian Open juniors tournament where she paired up with Indonesian Priska Nugroho to capture the girls doubles title.

She already nailed many career milestones this year, including her first professional title last January and closing in on the top 500 in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings. – Rappler.com