ALEX Eala had just bagged her first win in the $100,000 category.
A week after crashing out of the W25 El Espinar/Segovia, Eala is back to the grind in a new tournament. The Filipina teen tennis sensation defeated Slovakian Laura Svatikova, 6-4, 6-4, to open up her W100 Grodzisk Mazowiecki stint in Poland, late Tuesday night (Manila time).
This tilt is her debut in the highest category of the ITF tour women’s pro circuit.
Alex Eala versus Laura Svatikova recap
In the beginning, the 17-year-old Filipina started off strong to lead at 5-1, but Svatikova, 28, didn’t falter. She won three straight games to push the score 4-5, before the Filipina pulled off a forehand cross-court to ice the first set, 6-4.
Eala opened up the next set with a 5-2 advantage, before Svatikova, WTA no. 1322, gained traction midway to almost equalize at 4-5.
Eala, though, held her pace to bring things to a matchpoint, 6-4, in a match that lasted just 46 minutes.
The Pinay netter now moves to the round of 32 facing WTA no. 250, Germany’s Katharina Hobgarski, seeded fourteenth in the tourney.
In the latest WTA rankings update, Eala also went up by two levels, increasing from no. 282 to 280.
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