FILIPINO tennis sensation Alex Eala advanced to the quarterfinal round at the W80 Rancho Santa Fe after her 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory over Canadian Katherine Sebov at the Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club in California, USA on Friday (Philippine time).

Eala had to buck a shaky first set where she committed six double faults and trailed Sebov in the tiebreak, 3-5.

The 17-year-old Eala, however, won the next four games to claim a 1-0 lead.

Eala, the 281st ranked player in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour, once again had to come back in the second set as Sebov, who is ranked a rung higher than the Filipino netter, raced to a 2-0 lead.

From there, Eala, the reigning US Open girls singles champion, picked up the pace as she won six straight games punctuated by a backhand crosscourt winner in the eighth game.

Despite the 6-2 score in the second set, the contest was close between Eala and Sebov, especially in the service and break points department.

Eala got 26 service points across four service games won while Sebov notched 39 service points across two service games won. Eala scored eight break points, just two more than Sebov did. Overall, Eala scored 80 winners while Sebov had 72.

Eala will next face world no. 229 Marcela Zacarias of Mexico in the quarterfinals early Saturday (Philippine time).