Eala, Sonmez advance in Madrid Open doubles

MANILA, Philippines — On to the next.

Alex Eala and Zeynep Sonmez are off to the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open doubles’ action after sweeping the pair of Hao-ching Chan and Fanny Stollar, 6-2, 6-2, Thursday afternoon (Manila time) in Spain.

The Filipino-Turkish pair had a slow start, trailing 0-2 in the first set.

But they strung together game after game, taking the first set 6-2.

They continued on in the second set, going up 4-0, before Chan and Stollar held their serve and finally put themselves on the board, 1-4.

Eala and Sonmez, though, held their serve, pushing themselves to the match point, 5-1.

But Chan and Stollar kept themselves afloat with a crucial win in the seventh game, 2-5.

The Filipina and Turkish tennisters, however, iced the match as they won the rally.

Eala and Sonmez will face either the pair of Lyudmyla Kichenok and Desirae Kwarczyk, or the second-seeded team of Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend.

The Filipina also barged into the next round of singles’ play after demolishing Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round. In the Round of 64, she will face Elise Mertens, who had a first-round bye.

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