Fresh from closing out a rain-delayed third set against Varvara Lepchenko, 6-3, Alex Eala returned to court yesterday (Philippine time) to face Italy’s Nicole Fossa Huergo in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara 125 Open.

The 19-year-old Filipina kept her momentum, grinding out a 7-6, 6-2 victory to reach the semifinals.

Fossa Huergo, ranked No. 280 with a 13-24 record this season and a career-high of No. 256, made Eala work early.

The Italian went ahead 3-1 in the opening set and later served for the set at 5-4.

Eala held in the ninth game to stay alive, then broke back to level at 5-5 and rode a confident service hold for a 6-5 edge.

Fossa Huergo forced a tiebreak, but Eala steadied, striking cleanly while her opponent piled up errors, and sealed the set 7-6 (7-2).

Carrying that composure into the second set, Eala played assertively, breaking for a 3-2 lead and never looking back.

She widened the gap to 5-2 before closing out the match with another aggressive hold.

The Italian earned her quarterfinal slot after upsetting seventh seed Katarzyna Kawa of Poland (WTA No. 118) 6-7, 6-0, 6-1 in the round of 16 and dispatching Mexican opponent Natalia Souza Salazar (No. 868) 6-2, 6-3 in the opener.

Eala is now the highest-seeded player in the tournament who keeps her title hopes alive at No. 2 after top-seed Kamilla Rakhimova was eliminated in the opening round by Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva, 1-6, 6-7.

Eala now plays USA’s Kayla Day, ranked WTA No. 418. (ABS-CBN News)