MARCHING into the round of 16 of the doubles play at the Mutua Madrid Open are best friends Alex Eala and Zeynep Sonmez after defeating Chan Hao-ching and Fanny Stollar, 6-2, 6-2, on Thursday afternoon, Manila Time.
The Filipina-Turkish duo broke away from a 2-2 start to take control, never letting go for the remainder of the match against their Taiwanese and Hungarian opponents. They secured the win in exactly one hour of play.
The WTA 1000 Madrid women’s doubles is Eala’s first doubles tournament played on a clay surface.
In the next round, Eala and Sonmez will play the winners of the match between Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and USA’s Desirae Krawczyk, and the pair of world No. 2 Katerina Siniakova (Czechia) and Taylor Townsend (USA).
READ: Eala eager to go further in Madrid after two straight early exits on clay
Meanwhile, in the singles bracket, Eala is set to face Belgium’s Elise Mertens in the second round after dominating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova last Wednesday night.
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