ALEX Eala displayed her survival instinct to the hilt late Wednesday night, pulling off a thrilling 1-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 win over former French Open semifinalist Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia in the second round of the Wimbledon women’s singles qualifiers in Wimbledon, England.
The pretty Pinoy southpaw saved eight match points in the second match on the way to completing the rousing comeback win after a grueling two hours and 33 minutes of play.
She moved one win away from appearing for the first time in the main draw of a Grand Slam and was up against No. 23 seed Lulu Sun of New Zealand, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Romania’s Miriam Bulgaria, last night.
Eala hurdled the opening qualifying round last Tuesday with a scrambling 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 victory over Frenchwoman Jessika Ponchet.
She was shaky in the opening set against Zidansek, falling into a 0-5 hole before finally winning her one and only game in the sixth.
