By Kristoffer Ed Bellen
MANILA--Filipina teenage tennis star Alex Eala just keeps on defying the odds.
On a hot Saturday morning at the Court 1 of Cary Leeds Stadium, the 14-year-old hotshot managed to overwhelm the heat and shocked Slovakian top-seed Romana Cisovska, 6-3, 6-0, to enter the main draw of the 2019 US Open girls’ juniors singles.
Eala, who was seeded 15th, capitalized on a good return game, needing only one hour and 14 minutes to make her the first ever female juniors’ tennis player from the Philippines to make it to the main draw of any Grand Slam event.
The 2018 La Petit As champion broke Cisovska six times in 13 attempts fired a total of 66 winners compared to the latter’s 42.
Meanwhile another Filipino rising star in the form of Arthur Craig Pantino also saw action in the US Open juniors’ qualifiers.
Pantino bowed down to Germany’s Milan Welte, 4-6, 3-6, in the first round.
The Juniors’ Main Draw will be played in Flushing Meadows from Sept. 1-8.
Follow him on Twitter: @KristoffBellen
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