Alex Eala seeks to sustain her momentum when she battles Valentina Ryser of Switzerland in the Round of 16 of the Ilkley Open women’s singles event on Friday (Manila time) at the Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club in Great Britain.

Fresh from an impressive 7-6, 6-3 win over Filipino-Australian Lizette Cabrera, the 20-year-old tennis prodigy aims to stay competitive and make a deep run in just her second grass competition this year.

But against Cabrera, her former doubles partner, Eala displayed solid performance all throughout their one hour and 46 minutes of action.

The Filipina jumped out to an early lead, but Cabrera clawed her way back with aggressive returns and soft hands at the net.

The set eventually went to a tiebreak, where Eala steadied her serve and pulled through with a 7-5 lead, closing the door on any late momentum Cabrera hoped to build.

Eala stayed aggressive behind her first serve and took control of the longer rallies, closing out the match with a confident hold at 6-3.

In a previous statement, Eala said she is still trying to regain her form following a surprise semifinal performance in the Miami Open — a feat that sent her into the top 100 of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking.

“So many things changed and my perspective has changed since Miami, but my day-to-day life is the same. I have the same work ethic and the same attention to detail,” Eala said.

“For sure, it gave me a lot of confidence to know that my level is there to play against the top players, but I know there is much more for me to do before I can be there consistently.”

Although the 77th-ranked Eala is favored against the 24-year-old Ryser, who is at No. 230 in the WTA ranking, she still remains cautious, knowing that her foe is coming off a shocking 6-0, 6-4 upset of No. 179 Sara Saito of Japan in the Round of 32.

Should Eala emerge victorious, she will go up against either home bet Emily Appleton or Rebecca Marino of Canada in the quarterfinal.

IVAN SUING