Alex Eala plows through qualifiers to reach main draw of Rancho Santa Fe tiff

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala blanked American Alana Smith in her second qualifying match of W80 Rancho Santa Fe in Calfironia to reach the main draw of the tournament on Tuesday (early Wednesday morning, Manila time).

The US Open Girls' Singles champ needed less than an hour to dispose of Smith and gain entry to the competition proper of the 80K tourney, 6-0, 6-0.

Eala was seeded second in the qualifiers and is now set to face another home bet, Dalayna Hewitt, in the Round of 32 on Wednesday.

Hewitt is a wild card entry into the competition.

Eala will have an edge over Hewitt on paper as the latter is only ranked No. 401 in the WTA rankings while the Filipina is World No. 281.

Eala reached the Round of 16 in her previous competition at the Central Coast Tennis Classic in Templeton, California.

This is her first 80,000 tournament in her professional career.

The 17-year-old is looking for her third title singles title overall as she already won a W15 and W25 trophy in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Earlier this year, she reached the final in a W60 tiff in Madrid but fell to Marina Bassols Ribera in the final as she settled for the runner-up finish.