ALEX Eala’s mental and physical fortitude were tested. She passed it with flying colors.

The Filipina tennis ace displayed tremendous grit to take down higher-ranked Hailey Baptiste, 6-7(7), 7-6(7), 6-1, to advance to the main draw of the WTA 250 Lexus Eastbourne Open in Great Britain Sunday (Philippine time), June 22.

The world No. 77 Eala overcame a 0-1 deficit, needing more than two hours to dispatch the No. 56 American Baptiste to seal her second straight qualifying round victory.

The tight match saw the first two sets decided by tiebreak.

Eala started the qualifiers with an easy 6-1, 6-3 win over Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez.

In the Round of 32, the 20-year-old Eala will face Italian Lucia Bronzetti.

Eala is gunning to make it deep in the tournament as she looks to fine tune her arsenals before heading to her second Grand Slam appearance in what has been a hectic year for the rising Filipina tennis star.

After seeing action in the French Open last year, Eala is set to compete in the prestigious Wimbledon Open later this month.(CCM)

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• #Alex Eala
• #Eastbourne Open
• #Tennis
• #Hailey Baptiste
• #WTA 250 Lexus Eastbourne Open
• #Great Britain