ALEX Eala made a rousing debut in the Australian Open juniors tournament as she overcame Shavit Kimchi of Israel in three sets on Sunday.
The 14-year-old Filipina won, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, to advance to the second round at Melbourne Park.
Seeded fourth, Eala will next face the winner of the match between hometown bet Mia Repac and Julie Belgraver of France.
Eala earned an outright berth to the main draw of the year’s first Grand Slam after ranking ninth in the ITF Junior World Rankings.
Last year, she made it to the US Open as a qualifier, reaching the second round where she lost to Mai Napatt Nirundorn of Thailand, 7-5, 6-3.
A scholar of the Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy, Eala warmed up for the Aussie Open by seeing action in the AGL Loy Yang Traralgon Junior International meet.
She got as far as the quarterfinals before losing to Polina Kudermetoya of Russia, 7-5, 4-6, 2-6.
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