TWIN victories came for Alex Eala in Japan on Tuesday as she won both her singles and doubles matches in the main draw of W100 Tokyo.
Earlier in the day, Eala drubbed home bet Natsumi Kawaguchi in a two-hour net fest in the Round of 32, 6-4, 6-3.
Coming off of two wins in qualifiers, the 18-year-old rode the momentum to the main tournament.
READ: Alex Eala reaches main draw in Tokyo
Eala staved off the Japanese tennister as she squandered an early 5-1 lead.
Her serve was broken twice in a row as Kawaguchi took three straight game wins to get within one game, 4-5, with Eala providing her foe with the breakpoint due to a double fault.
But the Filipina netter gathered her bearings in time as she zoomed to a 40-0 lead in Game 10. Though Kawaguchi saved two set points, third time was the charm for Eala who claimed the 1-0 set advantage, 6-4.
It was the same story in Set 2 as errant service games helped Kawaguchi fight back from an early 3-0 Eala lead.
In the seventh game, Eala committed three double faults as the Japanese closed in, 3-4.
Similar to the first set, though, Eala refused to let herself meltdown completely as she broke the Japanese’s serve and held her serve in the ninth game to take the victory.
Later that day, Eala and Kawaguchi teamed up to face Thai pair Luksika Kumkhum and Peangtarn Pilpuech in the Round of 16, 6-4, 7-6(3).
The two fended off a tough fight back from the Thais in Set 2, which reached tiebreak to enter the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament.
Eala plays again on Wednesday as she faces 5-seed Kimberly Birrell in the Round of 16 singles match.
Over in doubles, she and Kawaguchi will challenge 3-seed Natela Dzalamidze and Sofya Lansere.
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