Eala repeats over Vekic in Kooyong Classic

Sports

ALEX Eala dominated Donna Vekic anew, proving that her previous win against the Paris Olympics silver medalist a few days ago was no fluke.

The Filipina tennis star nipped her Croatian opponent, 6-3, 6-4, in their singles exhibition match at the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, Australia on Wednesday, Jan. 14.

The two-set victory came after Eala flattened Vekic, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, in the Round of 32 of last week’s ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.

Eala, who recently moved up to a career-high No. 49 ranking in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), started slow, allowing Vekic to jump to an early 2-1 lead.

Eala adjusted and soared to a 4-2 lead. Vekic made it 3-4 but Eala dominated the eighth game for a commanding 5-3 advantage en route to winning the opening set.

Ranked No. 70 in the world, Vekic raced to a 2-1 lead in the second set but Eala responded with three straight wins for a pivotal 4-2 edge.

Joining Eala as in the winner’s circle are Learner Tien, who downed 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic, 7-5, 4-6, 10-7, and 2024 US Open doubles champion Jordan Thompson, who tripped two-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Denis Shapovalov, 6-7 (1), 6-3, 10-8.

Eala is seeing action in the exhibition singles-only tournament that features Association of Tennis Professionals and WTA players. The Kooyong Classic is the last event that Eala is participating in before her main draw debut in the Australian Open.(CCM)