FILIPINA tennis sensation Alexandra Eala, continued her W60 Nantes run on Thursday, defeating French bet Leolia Jeanjean, 6-4, 2-0, to advance in the semifinal of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) women’s singles event, at the SNUC Tennis in Nantes, France.
Photo Courtesy: Alex Eala
Despite Jeanjean’s strong start, Eala managed to erase a 1-4 deficit in the first set before taking a 2-0 lead in the second to win her victory over the French favorite.
Photo Courtesy: Alex Eala
Jeanjean, who was ranked 102 in the world earlier this year, was forced to retire due to an unidentified cause after her match where the 19th Asian Games Bronze medalist, Eala, went up two games to none in the second set.
Photo Courtesy: Alex Eala
Eala, who was unseeded in the $60,000 competition, will face Czech Republic’s Gabriela Knutson in the semifinals, with another win bringing her closer to a fifth title. While, French bets Oceane Doin and Elsa Jacquemot will battle it out in the other semis bracket.
Eala, a Rafael Nadal Academy alumnus and current WTA No. 193, defeated Amandine Hesse of France, 6-3, 6-2, and Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey, 7-6, 6-4, in the opening two rounds before knocking out WTA No.135 Jeanjean in the quarterfinals.
Eala had already exited the doubles tournament when she and her partner, Jessy Rompies of Monaco, were eliminated in the round of 16 on Monday by Russian duo Ekaterina Reyngold and Ekaterina Maklakova.
So far, this is the furthest Eala has progressed on the tour in the three months after winning her fourth professional singles title at the ITF Roehampton W25K GB Pro Series in Great Britain last August.
