AFTER surviving a three-set thriller in the girls’ singles play, Alex Eala pulled off a back-to-back win with her Belgian partner Hanne Vandewinkel at the 2021 US Open Juniors Championships on Thursday morning (Manila time).
Vandewinkel and the Filipina ace, sixth-seeded in the tiff, defeated Greece's Michaela Laki and partner Radka Zelnickova of Slovakia over a tiebreak, 6-3, 3-6, 10-6, in the third round to move to the quarterfinals of the New York-based Grand Slam.
The 16-year-old Pinay surpassed her 2019 US Open Girls Doubles’ record where she ended only in the second round.
Alex Eala US Open doubles results
From a tie at 2-2 in the first set, Eala and Vandewinkel managed to lead up to 5-2, before their opponents snatched another point at game eight in an attempt to close the gap. But the former sustained their serve and took the set point.
In the following set, though, the Greek and Slovakian broke them thrice in a row to lead at 1-4 to 2-5, forcing a decider with a vengeance.
Eala, World Juniors No. 2, and Vandewinkel, World Juniors No. 37, then dominated early in the deuce round with a quick 6-2 to take advantage. Laki and Zelnickova, however, came within striking distance of a win at 7-6, before the seeded pair broke them and sustained their serve to ice the victory, 10-6.
In the quarterfinals, they will next face American pair Elizabeth Coleman and Madison Sieg.
Alex also plays her quarterfinals in the Singles, going against Sebastianna Scilipoti of Switzerland.
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