Eala-Ribera tandem marches to semifinals in Palma del Rio, Spain
ALEX M. Eala and Spanish partner Marina Bassols Ribera hardly broke a sweat en route to the Final Four after making short work of their quarterfinal counterparts with a 6-1, 6-3 victory in the W25 Palma del Rio in Spain on Thursday.
Former rivals turned allies, Mses. Eala and Ribera rolled past Spain’s Marta Huqi Gonzalez Encinas and the United States’ Ashley Lahey in only 60 minutes to march onto the doubles semifinals of the $25,000 tourney.
Their easy win was a follow-up to a more convincing 6-0, 6-0 triumph over the Spanish tandem of Adriana Cortes and Patricia Rodriguez Carretero in the first round.
The Filipina-Spanish duo, seeded as No. 4, will shoot for a finals seat against the top-seeded pair of Valeria Savinykh and Fanni Stollar.
Mses. Eala and Ribera figured in a thrilling finals of the W60 Madrid last month with the latter scoring a close 6-4, 7-5 win, before teaming up this time.
Meanwhile in the singles play, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) No. 337 Ms. Eala will face Jessica Ponchet of France in the second round on Friday for a ticket in the quarterfinals.
Ms. Ponchet, the WTA No. 140, bested Ms. Savinykh, with a gritty 6-2, 7-6(9) win on Thursday while Ms. Eala advanced as early as Wednesday after a 6-2, 6-0 win over Chile’s Jimar Geraldine Gerald Gonzalez.
Ms. Eala is gunning for her third professional title in Palma del Rio after championships in W15 Manacor also in Spain last year and W25 Chiang Rai in Thailand earlier this year. — John Bryan Ulanday
