ALEX Eala broke through with her first win in a grand slam as a pro in the first round of qualifiers for the 2024 French Open on Monday.
Eala, who turns 19 on Thursday, made light work of Chinese foe YeXin Ma in her opening match, 6-1, 6-1, moving two wins away from a place in the main draw.
Eala dominates
The Rafa Nadal Academy scholar hardly broke a sweat in a match that lasted an hour and 14 minutes.
Her win comes on the day she set a new career-high in the WTA rankings at 160th in the world, two notches higher than her previous best.
The Filipina tennister, who is a girls’ doubles winner in Roland Garros, set up a clash with Taylah Preston in the second round of qualifiers.
Though Eala has yet to make deep runs in WTA tournaments, she has four ITF titles in singles, and another two titles in doubles.
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