Eala, partner advance to W40 Petange doubles semis

MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala is off to the doubles semifinals of the W40 Petange in Luxembourg after she and partner Turkiye’s Zeynep Sonmez defeated the pair of Serbia’s Katarina Kozarov and Bosnia’s Anita Wagner, 6-2, 6-1, Thursday morning (Manila time).

The Kozarov-Wagner pair was seeded fourth in the tournament. 

Kozarov is ranked 369th in the world in doubles play, while Wagner is rated 235th. 

While the Bosnian-Serbian pair was heavily favored coming into the game, Eala and Sonmez dispatched them easily, ending the match in one hour and six minutes.

They took a 2-0 lead in the first set, but Kozarov and Wagner broke their dry spell as they won the third game. 

The two pairs exchanged the next two games. Eala and Sonmez, however, blanked them the rest of the way en route to the breezy 6-2 set. 

The Filipina-Turkish duo carried the newfound momentum to a 3-0 lead in the second set. 

After Kozarov and Wagner won the fourth game, Eala and Sonmez clobbered their foes all the way through. 

They won 29 receiving points compared to just 17 for their opponents and 27 service points to 21. 

The Eala-Sonmez pair will be facing the winner of the clash between the top-seeded pair of Ali Collins and Isabelle Haverlag, and the duo of the Netherlands’ Indy de Vroome and Luxembourg’s Marie Weckerle.