ALEX Eala made quick work of higher-ranked Lucia Bronzetti, 6-0, 6-1, to advance to the second round of the WTA 250 Eastbourne Open on Monday night.
The world No. 74 surprisingly blanked the world No. 61 in the opening set and never let up, wrapping up the round-of-32 match in just over 30 minutes.
READ Eala stuns world No. 56 Baptiste, reaches main draw
Eala kept the momentum in the second set, allowing the Italian just one game on the way to her third win in this WTA 250 tournament counting two qualifiers.
With the emphatic victory, Eala moves on to the Round of 16, where she will face the winner between fourth seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and British wildcard Sonay Kartal.
In their last meeting, Eala beat world No. 20 Ostapenko in the round of 64, 7-6(4), 7-5, on the way to a breakthrough run to the semifinals of the Miami Open.
This marks Eala’s fourth grass-court tournament of the season, as she looks to wrap up her Wimbledon preparation on a high note.
She previously suffered a first-round exit in the Birmingham Classic, reached the quarterfinals of the Ilkley Open, and bowed out in the Round of 32 at the Nottingham Open.
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