ALEX EALA returned to action and with new partner Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra beat the second-seeded pair of Robin Anderson of the US and Isabella Shinikova of Bulgaria, 6-3, 7-6, to reach the quarterfinals of the International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour W25 Madrid at the Ciudad de la Raqueta in Spain.
Fresh off winning the juniors doubles crown at Roland Garros with Russian star Oksana Selekhmeteva, the 16-year-old Globe ambassador kept the momentum going, this time pairing up with the 15-year-old Jimenez Kasintseva, the top-ranked juniors player in the world.
They disposed of the Anderson-Shinikova duo who are ranked No. 221 and 216, respectively, in the Women’s Tennis Association singles rankings.
Tied at 3-3 in the first set, the Eala and Kasintseva broke their opponent’s serve twice and held their own to snatch the first set, 6-3. The second set, though, was played on more even terms as the two teams fought to a stalemate, 6-6, to forge a tiebreak.
There, the Filipina-Andorran tandem got two mini-breaks late to win the tiebreaker, 7-3, and complete the straight sets victory.
Eala and Jimenez Kasintseva will next face American Ashley Lahey and Australian Olivia Tjandramulia.
Eala is also seeing action in the singles competition and is set to take on Spain’s Andrea Lazaro Garcia in the first round.