Eala wins third doubles title in W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz

ALEX EALA soared to new heights, annexing her third doubles title this year and overall in the W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz on Sunday in Spain.

With long-time partner Estelle Cascino of France, Ms. Eala met their match at last before pulling through to a gutsy 6-3, 2-6, 10-4 finale victory over Bulgaria’s Lia Karatancheva and Latvia’s Diana Marcinkevica.

It’s the first three-setter match for the third-seeded tandem in a remarkable campaign but still took care of business to reign supreme in the elite $100,000 Spanish tourney.

Mmess. Eala and Cascino were also partners in ruling the W75 Croissy-Beaubourg championship in France last March after the Filipina’s breakthrough doubles title in the W50 Pune in India with Latvian teammate Darja Semenistaja.

In Spain, the Filipina-French pair did not a drop a single set until the finals marked by wins against home bets Carolina Gomez and Jimena Gomez, 6-3, 6-2, as well as the pair of Czechia’s Victoria Bervid and Italy’s Laura Mair, 6-4, 6-1, in the first two rounds.

They also drubbed Mexico’s Ramirez and Bolivia’s Noelia Zeballos Melgar, 6-2, 6-3, in the semifinals.

Ms. Eala, ranked No. 155 in the WTA singles and No. 245 in the doubles, found a doubles expert in Ms. Cascino (WTA No. 120 in doubles but No. 1112 in the singles) and it showed in their second championship together.

That’s despite going up against the proven duo of Mmess. Karatancheva and Marcinkevica, who slayed the top-seeded tandem of Eden Silva from Great Britain and Valeriya Strakhova of Ukraine, 3-6, 6-3, 12-10, in the semis.

Ms. Eala, however, isn’t done with a scheduled finale duel in the singles play at press time against former adversary Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra.

The former world junior No. 2 Ms. Eala trounced Mexico’s Maria Jose Portillo Ramirez, 6-2, 6-1, in the semis to earn a shot at Kasintseva, the former world junior No. 1 who clobbered Jessika Ponchet of France, 6-2, 6-2, in the other pairing.

Ms. Eala is seeded fifth while Kasintseva is the No. 7 seed in a gigantic duel in the women’s arena this time after their era in the girls’ circuit. — John Bryan Ulanday