ALEX Eala marched on to the round of 16 of the Toray Pan Pacific Open after beating British wildcard Mika Stojsavljevic, 6-1, 6-2, on Monday afternoon in Tokyo.
The current world No. 20 needed only one hour and 15 minutes to dispose of the world No. 308 in a battle between two former US Open girls champions.
Eala was in sharp form in her debut, but also benefited from the British teen committing 41 unforced errors that negated the 19 winners she won.
READ Eala talks about her goal to 'compartmentalize, prioritize'
The eight-seeded won 72-percent of her first serves while capping off the match with a superb backhand that Stojsavljevic could only send to the net.
"I think it was super important today to be focused for every point, try to keep the intensity of the game," she said.
The win also earned Eala USD17,795 for making it to the second round of the WTA 500 tournament, on top of earning 60 ranking points.
Awaiting her in the round of 16 is world No. 38 Talia Gibson, who won over her fellow Australian Daria Kasatkina, 6-0, 7-5.
Doubles scrapped
Eala's attention will now be fully focused on singles after her doubles team-up with Fil-Am Desirae Krawczyk no longer pushing through.
The duo were supposed to play Chinese Taipei’s Chan Hao-Ching and Japan’s Miyu Kato on Tuesday, but was replaced by Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan and Liudmila Samsonova of Russia.
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