Filipina tennis player Alexandra Eala achieved a new milestone on clay courts by defeating 31st seed Xinyu Wang of China 6-4, 6-3, to advance to the third round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome on Friday.
According to the WTA, Wang, who won their only previous meeting in the semifinals in Auckland earlier this year, broke Eala twice to take a 3-0 lead in the first set.
However, Eala quickly settled into the match and began to dominate play, winning six of the next seven games to take the first set 6-4.
The second set began with both players trading breaks of serve before Wang saved two break points to hold serve and take a 3-2 lead.
From there, Eala won four straight games to complete the 6-4, 6-3 victory in 1 hour and 26 minutes.
The win evened their head-to-head record on the WTA Tour at 1-1.
Eala, who reached the semifinals in Miami last year and the quarterfinals in Dubai earlier this season, advanced to the third round of a WTA 1000 claycourt tournament for the first time in her career.
His previous best result in Rome or Madrid was reaching the second round.
The victory marked Eala's 16th win on the 2026 WTA Tour in 10 tournaments. She also holds the record for most wins by a left-handed player this year.
The 20-year-old's next opponent is second seed Elena Rybakina or former world number three Maria Sakkari, who are scheduled to play..
Eala had never faced either player on tour before.
