LIVING up to the expectations of a huge Filipino crowd, Alex Eala couldn’t have picked a better way to kick off her sixth stop in the Asian Swing than a sweet homecoming of sorts at the WTA 250 Prudential Hong Kong Open.
“First time playing in Hong Kong since I was probably 12. Safe to say it didn’t disappoint,” the 20-year-old wrote on Instagram a day after her opening-night victory.
READ Long queues at HK Open as Alex Eala gets all the love from fans
Currently ranked No. 51 in the world, Eala needed just an hour and nine minutes to hurdle her opening match as WTA No. 63 Katie Boulter of Great Britain retired due to injury while trailing, 6-4, 2-1, on Tuesday night.
Hong Kong, her closest stop to home in this stretch, felt much the same way as a large number of Filipino fans - both based in this former British colony and those who flew in from Manila - turned up to cheer her on.
“Katie and I did a high level of tennis, I hope she’s able to recover now,” Eala said in her post-match interview, after the 29-year-old Brit retired early in the second set while on a medical timeout.
The victory marked a welcome return to form for Eala, who suffered first-round exits in her previous three tournaments. She next faces Canadian third seed Victoria Mboko in the round of 16.
“I like to be aggressive, I do my best with starting the points well, everyday, I try my best to get better at practice,” Eala said.
Eala and Mboko are set to face off on Thursday, with the match time and court assignment yet to be announced.
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