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Tennis: Alex Eala tops Indian 13th seed, makes maiden Asian Games quarterfinal

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Rosy Mina

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Alex Eala of the Philippines returns the ball to her opponent from India, Bhosale Rutuja, during their tennis match of the19th Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China. POC-PSC Media Pool" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/09/26/19th-asian-games-alex-eala-ph-vs-bhosale-rutuja-sampatrao-ind02_poc-psc-media-pool.jpg"/><figcaption>Alex Eala of the Philippines returns the ball to her opponent from India, Bhosale Rutuja, during their tennis match of the19th Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China. POC-PSC Media Pool</figcaption></figure></div>(UPDATED) Filipino No. 4 seed Alex Eala pushed forth in her first Asian Games stint in Hangzhou, China by reaching the singles quarterfinals and mixed doubles third round with Francis Casey Alcantara.She secured a 7-6(5), 6-2 victory over Indian 13th seed Rutuja Bhosale in the third round on Tuesday.Eala, who achieved a new peak of WTA World No. 190 this week, received a bye in the first round and overpowered Pakistan’s Sarah Ibrahim Khan in the second round, 6-0, 6-0.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/24/23/gonzales-alcantara-halted-by-thais-in-tennis-doubles-opener">Asian Games: Gonzales, Alcantara halted by Thais in tennis doubles opener</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/25/23/alex-eala-routs-pakistani-veteran-in-asian-games-debut">Tennis: Alex Eala routs Pakistani veteran in Asian Games debut</a></li></ul>In the quarterfinals, the three-time Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) bronze medalist with four ITF women’s singles titles will square off with 11th seed Kyoka Okamura of Japan.Eala and Bhosale began their clash on Court 4 of the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre by reaching 3-3 without dropping serves. They proceeded to be at 4-4 by trading service breaks. The 18-year-old Eala overcame deuce to hold for 5-4 and Bosale, 27, responded by saving a set point to tie the score at 5-5.Both held serve to force a tiebreak, which the 336th-ranked Bosale led at 3-0.Eala clawed back to snatch the lead at 5-4, converted a mini-break to advance to 6-5, and served out the first set, 7-6(5). At 2-2 in the second set, Eala pulled away to win the next two games by scoring a break at 40-30 and following it up with a love hold.The 2022 US Open Juniors singles champion then broke on her third opportunity in the seventh game to serve for the match at 5-2.She swiftly gained three match points and closed out the battle on her second match point, 6-2.The Filipino tallied 73 total points won, four out of 11 break point conversions, three aces, and seven double faults while the Indian clinched 61 total points, won both of her break points, and served two aces and five double faults.Eala, also a Roland Garros girls’ doubles winner, returned to action on Court 3 several hours later with fellow Australian Open junior doubles grand slam champion Alcantara.After getting a bye in the first round, the mixed doubles 14th seeds from the Philippines trounced Sunira Thapa and Pranav Khanal of Nepal in the second round, 6-0, 6-0.Eala and Alcantara reached 4-0 by winning back-to-back love games, broke at deuce in the following game, and held serve to love for 6-0.They raced to a 5-0 lead in the second set with their sixth break point conversion, and went on to earn a match point at 40-30.They sealed the duel at 6-0 to march into the third round against top seeds Ankita Raina and Yuki Bhambri of India.Alcantara saw action on Sunday with Ruben Gonzales in the men’s doubles opener, where the No. 4 seeds and two-time SEAG gold medalists suffered a 6-4, 4-6, 5-10 upset against Thantub Suksumrarn and Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul of Thailand.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/21/23/asian-games-eala-gonzales-alcantara-motivated-to-represent-ph">Asian Games: Eala, Gonzales, Alcantara motivated to represent PH</a></li></ul> RELATED VIDEO<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U8wVK3kKqxw?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Alex Eala pushed forth in her first Asian Games stint in Hangzhou, China by securing a 7-6(5), 6-2 victory over Indian 13th seed Rutuja Bhosale in the third round.