ALEX Eala wasted no time announcing herself in Abu Dhabi.
Coming off a quarterfinal exit at the inaugural WTA125 Philippine Women’s Open, the world no. 45 powered past Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, to open her WTA500 Mubadala Abu Dhabi campaign early Tuesday morning (Manila Time).
The first set was tight on paper but never out of Eala’s control.
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Locked at 3-all, she stepped on the gas, surged ahead 5-3, and shut the door at 6-4 with clean hitting and calm nerves.
From there, it was all Eala.
She blitzed the second set with a 3-0 start, dictating play and keeping Sonmez on the back foot.
The Turk, fresh from a third-round run at the Australian Open, made one last push, trimming the gap to 5-3, but Eala had the final word, closing it out 6-3 with zero drama.
The match lasted an hour and 29 minutes.
Next up for Eala is Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich, WTA no. 109, in the round of 16.
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