TAKING baby steps as she continues her season on grass courts, Alex Eala will test her progress against WTA No. 230 Valentina Ryser of Switzerland in the Round of 16 of the WTA 125 Ilkley Open in Great Britain.
The 20-year-old Filipina, the tournament’s top seed, is coming off a come-from-behind victory over Australia’s Lizette Cabrera, 7-6(7-4), 6-3, last Wednesday.
All square
Eala and Ryser are set to face off on Thursday at 6 p.m., Manila time.
Having finally regained her winning momentum after four straight singles losses dating back to the French Open, Eala looks to get the upperhand on the 24-year-old Swiss after splitting their first two matches in the pro ranks.
In their most recent matchup, Ryser defeated Eala 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 on hard courts at Trnava 2 in Slovakia earlier this year, evening their head-to-head record after Eala won their meeting two years ago in Yecla, Spain, 6-7, 7-5, on the same surface.
Ryser advanced to the second round after ousting higher-ranked Sara Saito of Japan, WTA No. 179, with a commanding 6-0, 6-4 win in her opener.
Earlier this week at the Birmingham Open, while Eala was ousted after a fifirst-round loss, Ryser made it to the second round but fell to Lucrezia Stefanini, WTA No. 153, 3-6, 6-7(4).
Prior to that, she pulled off a notable upset over WTA No. 79 Tatjana Maria, who is only two ranks lower than Eala, winning 7-6(2), 7-5 in the first round.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
