Eala breezes into 2nd round of first-ever Philippine Women’s Open

Sports

ALEX Eala didn’t disappoint the huge hometown crowd when she scored a dominant win and breezed into the second round of the inaugural Philippine Women’s Open on Monday night, Jan. 26, at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

The 20-year-old Eala needed just one hour and 16 minutes to dispose of Russia’s Alina Chareva, 6-1, 6-2.

The convincing win was also a redemption of sorts for Eala as she got back at Charaeva following her straight sets loss to the Russian opponent in the 2020 W15 Melilla Open in Spain.

Ranked No. 29 in the world, a career-high, Eala marked her dominant showing in the opening set by breaking Charaeva in the fourth and sixth games.

The 163rd-ranked Russian showed signs of life in the second set by racing to a 2-0 lead. Eala cut the deficit to 1-2 before asking for a medical timeout.

The lull hardly slowed Eala down as she won the next five games to ice the one-sided victory.

In the Round of 16, Eala will face the winner of the all-Japanese duel between Nao Hibino and Himeno Sakatsume.

The Hibino-Sakatsume matchup will be at 3:10 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27.

While Eala advanced, her compatriots Tennielle Madis and Elizabeth Abarquez lost in the respective first-round matches.

In the women's doubles, the Filipino pairs of Angeline Alcala and Joana Victoria Pena and Justine Maneja and Kaye Emana fell by the wayside after also dropping their opening-round assignments.

(CCM)