MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala advanced to the WTA 1000 Miami Open fourth round after dropping Polish Magda Linette, 6-3, 7-6 (2), in their round of 32 match at the Hard Rock Stadium Grandstand Court Sunday morning in Manila.
World No. 29 Eala trailed by a game thrice (3-4, 4-5, 5-6) in the second set but came back each time to push the frame to a tiebreak.
Eala dominated from there, zooming to a 3-0 lead to eventually win the match and level her head-to-head record against world No. 50 Linette at 2-2.
Seeded 31st in the tournament, Eala faces world No. 14 and 13th seed Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic in the fourth round.
Muchova defeated British Katie Boulter in their round of 32 encounter, 6-3, 7-5.
