The Philippine flag is once again lifted to a world-class event after Alexandra Eala won the girls' doubles at the prestigious 2020 Australian Open yesterday at Melbourne Park in Australia.
Eala defeated Indonesian Priska Madelyn Nugroho, where two Southeast Asian netters did not form Ziva Falkner of Slovenia and Matilda Mutavdzic of Great Britain in the championship round, 6-1, 6-2.
Eala was the first Pinay player and second Pinoy overall to win a Grand Slam event.
Francis Casey Alcantara and Taiwanese partner Hsieh Cheng-Peng will proudly host the boys' doubles event in the 2009 edition of Australian Jrs. Open.
Eala and Nugroho enter the finals after top seeds Kamila Bartone of Latvia and Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic lost in the semifinals by a score of 1-6, 7-5, 10-8 on Thursday.
Also included were Eala and Nugroho, Elina Avanesyan of Russia and Liubov Kostenko of Ukraine in the first round, 7-5, 4-6, 10-8; Julie Belgraver of France and Pia Lovric of Slovenia in the second round, 6-2, 4-6, 11-9; and seventh seeds Aubane Droguet and Selena Janicijevic of France in the quarterfinals, 7-6 (2), 6-2.
It was a good reserve for Eala to be dropped early in the girls' singles event.
No. 2 is expected to rise to world rankings Eala was 8 when her proceeds to the singles and doubles event were added to Australian Jrs. Open.
