MASSIVE rain halted Alexandra “Alex” Eala’s thrilling back-and-forth marathon against Varvara Lepchenko of the United States in the second round of the WTA 125 Guadalajara Open on Thursday in Mexico.
The 20-year-old Filipina Eala was holding to a 3-2 lead when the officials stopped the game set to be rescheduled early Friday. The match was at two hours and 56 minutes before the suspension.
Ms. Lepchenko, 39, escaped with a 7-6, (7-3) win in the first set before Ms. Eala returned the favor, 7-6, (7-3) in back-to-back tiebreakers with similar scores.
At stake for Ms. Eala, WTA No. 75, and the No. 122 Ms. Lepchenko is a seat in the quarterfinals of the 64-player, $125,000 tourney against No. 280 Nicole Fossa Huergo of Italy.
Ms. Huergo stunned No. 118 and seventh-seeded Katarzyna Kawa of Poland, 6(2)-7, 6-0, 6-1, in their own second-round match.
Ms. Eala, who dispatched world No. 187 Arianne Hartono of the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round, is now the highest-seeded player in the 64-strong field at No. 2.
Top-seeded and world No. 65 Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia got the early boot in Round 1 against No. 130 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, 6-1, 7-6(2).
Ms. Eala has the momentum on her side in Mexico after a historic stint in the US Open, where she became the first Filipina winner in any Slam main draw after upsetting world No. 15 and 14th-seeded Clara Tauson, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11).
Ms. Eala, who will also play in the main draw of the Sao Paulo Open in Brazil next week, then bowed to Cristina Bucsa of Spain in Round of 64, 6-4, 6-3. — John Bryan Ulanday
