ALEX Eala moved one win away from the main draw of the US Open Women’s Singles tournament after pulling off an upset against 15-seed Nuria Parrizas-Diaz in the qualifiers on Wednesday (early Thursday morning, Manila time).
The 19-year-old drubbed the older hitter from Spain in two neck-and-neck sets, 7-5, 7-5, to get on the cusp of her first-ever Grand Slam main draw as a pro.
Eala relied on her service game to trip the veteran Parrizas-Diaz in a back-and-forth affair, digging deep to fend off her more experienced foe after a 5-all deadlock in both sets.
Ultimately, the Filipino tennis star survived in the netfest that lasted an hour and 48 minutes against a player at No. 99 in the WTA rankings.
Try three, and Alex'll be in
Eala now faces a final hurdle before barging into the main draw in the form of Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse at around 1:35 a.m., Friday morning, Manila time.
The Rafa Nadal Academy hopes that third time’s the charm after falling one win short of the main draw twice already this year.
She was on the verge of qualifying for both the French Open and Wimbledon after also winning her first two matches in the qualifiers.
This will be Eala’s last chance to advance to the main draw of a pro Grand Slam for the year.
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