FILIPINA tennis sensation Alex Eala and Frenchwoman Estelle Cascino scraped past Bulgarian Lia Karantacheva and Latvian Diana Markinceva 3-6, 6-2, 10-4 last Saturday night to bag the W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz women’s doubles title in Vitoria Gasteiz, Spain.
After an opening set romp, Eala and Cascino allowed their rivals to equalize in the second set, forcing a race-to-10 super tiebreak to decide the match.
This was where the Eala-Cascino duo totally dominated their foes in securing the victory, the third ITF doubles title for the pretty Pinay southpaw.
She was eyeing another crown last night, advancing to the women’s tennis singles finals after whipping Mexico’s Maria Jose Portillo 6-2, 6-1. She will be up against Andorra’s Victoria Kasinteva, who whipped France’s Jessika Ponchet 6-2, 6-1.
The No. 5 seed in singles play, Eala drew an opening-round bye then beat Dutchwoman Lian Tran 6-4, 6-2 in the second round, dumped Spanish Lucia Cortez Llorca 7-5, 7-5 in the third before slipping past Ukranian No. 4 seed Yulia Starodubtseva 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
