Alex Eala, American partner rule the JA Milan girls' doubles tourney

Alex Eala added another trophy to her growing collection of achievements. 

The teen tennis sensation and partner Madison Sieg of the United States were nothing but dominant in pulling off a win over Lucija Ciric Bagaric of Croatia and Sofia Costoulas of Belgium, 6-4, 4-6, 13-11, in the JA Trofeo Bonfiglio girls doubles tournament in Italy Saturday night (Manila time). 

The Filipino-American duo, who was seeded No. 1 in the tournament, was just coming off a triumphant outing against the Russian pair of Kira Pavlova and Diana Shnaider, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinals.

But their finals win was no picnic.

The top-seeded pair led 3-0 in the opening set before surrendering the three succeeding games to the other side for a tie, 3-3. Eala and Sieg, who currently place third and 16th in the juniors world rankings, respectively, ruled the seventh, ninth, and tenth games to seal the first set at 6-4. 

They, however, were not able to sustain their momentum going into the second set as the Bagaric-Costoulas pair won it, 6-4.

In the third and final set, Eala and Sieg put up a gallant stand to finally finish the three-set thriller, 13-11. 

This is Eala's second successful run since winning the  2021 French Open girls doubles in June with her Russian partner Oksana Selekhmeteva before making her much-awaited debut on Wimbledon stage this month. 

Eala is also eyeing to bag another golden finish in the singles play after she bested Mirra Andreeva of Russia, 7-5, 6-2, in their semifinals clash earlier in the day. —Bea Micaller/KG, GMA News