Eala bags runner-up plum in Florida tilt

PROMISING netter Alexandra Eala copped the runner- up honors in the girls’ 12- under singles of the 56th Junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Tournament held at the William H. Kerdyk Biltmore Tennis Center in Coral Gables, Florida.

Eala suffered a 7-6 (4), 3-6, 2-6 loss to top seed Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic in the tournament sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association and International Tennis Federation.

The third- seeded Eala had a smooth sailing in her first four assignments as she blasted American Stacey Samonte in the first round ( 6- 0, 6- 1), American Ibifuro Clement in the second round ( 62, 6- 0), Japanese Mayu Emily Ishidacrossley in the third round ( 6- 1, 6- 0), and American Qavia Lopez in the fourth round ( 6- 4, 6- 1).

But Eala needed an extra effort in ousting Canadian Kayla Cross in the quarterfinals before scoring a 7- 6 ( 5), 6- 1 win and in the semifinals where she survived Sofia Costoulas of Belgium via a tough 7- 5, 7- 6 ( 3) decision.

“I am the runner-up for 12-under girls here at the 2017 Junior Orange Bowl Tennis Tournament. Thank you very much everyone for all your comments and words of encouragement throughout this tournament, which had a draw of 128 players. It kept me going,” Eala posted on his Facebook account.

Two weeks ago, Eala reached the semifinals of the 2017 Eddie Herr International Tennis Championships held in Bradenton, Florida.

In November, Eala teamed up with South Korean Ha Yeong to win the girls’ doubles title in the 2017 Asian Tennis Federation Lee Duk Cup Under-14 division held in Chuncheon, South Korea.