Filipina tennis sensation and Globe ambassador Alex Eala started strong in the 3rd and final leg of the Rafael Nadal Academy International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tournament in Manacor Spain, beating homegrown netter Ana Lantigua de la Nuez in straight sets 6-0, 6-2.

The 15-year old ace looked determined to bounce back from her loss in the quarterfinals of the second leg, as she held her 20-year old opponent scoreless in the entire first set.

Ranked no. 52 in the ITF and 675th in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Lantigua de la Nuez came alive in the second set to take her first point of the match. Eala, however, dashed her hopes of extending their encounter by racking up six of the next seven games to end the set and the match.

The win pushed Eala to the second round where she will take on the winner of the top-seeded French Margot Yerolymos and Germany’s Silvia Ambrosio.

Eala, a Globe Ambassador since 2013, is coming off to her first-ever singles title in the ITF with a win in the first leg of the tournament. She is the first Filipina to win an ITF event since 2015.

Eala is looking to continue her string of impressive performances in the W15 Manacor circuit. She took home the title in the first leg and made her way in the quarterfinals of the second leg but was thwarted by Swiss Ylena In-Albon.

With her breakthrough win in the opening leg of the Rafa Nadal Academy ITF World Tennis Tour, the Filipina tennis sensation has jumped to number 942nd in the WTA world ranking.

Currently ranked number 3 in the ITF juniors, Eala is a scholar at the Rafa Nadal Academy since 2018.