MANILA – Filipino teen sensation Alex Eala eased into the singles third round of the W60 Madrid tournament in Spain after scoring a 6-1, 6-2 upset over No. 11 seed Daniela Seguel of Chile on Wednesday.

WTA World No. 413 Eala and WTA World No. 292 Seguel battled it out in the second round at Club Deportivo Brezo Osuna in 1 hour and 18 minutes.

Eala and Seguel were the first to clash at the Brezo Osuna outdoor hard court, where the 17-year-old Filipina netter quickly took a 5-1 lead.

Although the score was lopsided, Eala’s service games prior to serving for the match all went to deuce.

The Rafa Nadal Academy player saved four break points in the first set: one in the opening game and three in the third game.

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She claimed the first set, 6-1, after her 29-year-old Chilean opponent hit a forehand return of serve into the net.

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In the second set, Eala saved a break point in the second game to level at 1-1, then broke serve in the fifth game to lead at 3-2.

She got the chance to serve for the match at 5-2 after a double fault by Seguel, who received a bye in the first round.

Two consecutive double faults were committed by Eala in the eighth game, but she recovered with an ace on match point to notch the win, 6-2.

In the third round, Eala will face No. 7 seed Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers of Spain, 30, whom she defeated in three sets in the 2021 W15 Manacor final to claim her first professional title.

Also the 2022 W25 Chiang Rai champion, Eala ousted 18-year-old qualifier Lia Karatancheva of Bulgaria in the first round, 6-4, 6-4.

Meanwhile, several hours later in the doubles quarterfinals, Eala and En Shuo Liang of Chinese Taipei were overpowered by No. 4 seeds Timea Babos of Hungary and Valeria Savinykh of Russia, 2-6, 4-6.

The quarterfinal had the same duration as Eala’s 2nd round singles match at 1 hour and 18 minutes.

Eala and Liang squandered three break points in the fourth game, allowing Babos and Savinykh to level at 2-2.

After breaking serve, Babos and Savinykh fired a backhand passing shot winner to advance to 4-2.

A double fault from Eala and Liang gave another break to the Hungarian and Russian, who served for the first set and claimed it, 6-2, with a forehand volley winner down the T.

Babos and Savinykh continued to prove their mettle in the second set by saving four break points, one in the second game and three in the fourth game, until they reached 4-2.

After Eala and Liang broke serve to catch up at 4-4, Babos and Savinykh broke back to serve for the match at 5-4.

The Hungarian-Russian pair saved two break points before clinching the victory, 6-4, following a backhand return of serve error from Eala.

In the first round, Eala and Liang dominated wildcards Marta Huqi Gonzalez Encinas of Spain and Vasanti Shinde of India, 6-2, 6-1.

Eala’s W60 Madrid doubles result equals her quarterfinal finish at last week’s W25 Madrid tournament at Ciudad de la Raqueta, where she was also a quarterfinalist in the singles draw.

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