Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala clashes with Japanese Mei Yamaguchi at Jingshan Open Round of 16

ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA is on the verge of another deep run.

The Filipina tennis pride takes on Japanese bet Mei Yamaguchi for a chance to enter in her third quarterfinals in the WTA125 Jingshan Open Friday at the Jingshan International Tennis Tournament Center in Hubei, China.

Ms. Eala and Ms. Yamaguchi figure in a Round of 16 duel at a still-to-be-determined time with the match slated as the fourth bill in a packed eight-game schedule.

The 20-year-old lefty ace made it to the Top 8 of her last two stints in the WTA250 Sao Paulo Open in Brazil and the WTA125 Guadalaraja Open in Mexico, which she ruled for her first-ever WTA title and the Philippines tennis’ as well.

A win by Ms. Eala would set her up against either No. 349 Jia-Jing Lu of China or No. 499 Riya Bathia of India for a ticket in the Final Four.

From WTA rankings and seeding in the 32-player field, Ms. Eala is a cinch for that feat barring any major hiccup as the No. 1 seed.

Ms. Eala, No. 58, also sits way higher in the WTA list over the No. 268 Ms. Yamaguchi for a favorable odds like in the first round.

In spite of a back-and-fourth exchange in the extended second set, Ms. Eala scored a 6-3, 7-5 sweep of WTA No. 322 Aliona Falei of Belarus.

The 26-year-old Ms. Yamaguchi, for her part, cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 win against Hong Yi Cody Wong of Hong Kong.

Ms. Eala will have two more stops in China after Jingshan as an automatic main draw player in the WTA125 Suzhou Open on Sept. 29 to Oct. 5 and the Hong Kong Open on Oct. 27 to Nov. 2.

With no Grand Slam tourneys the rest of the WTA Season, the Philippine tennis is hoping for Ms. Eala’s national team return in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games this December in Thailand after netting three bronze mints in the Hanoi Games in 2022. — John Bryan Ulanday