Filipina tennis sensation and Globe ambassador Alex Eala captured her second pro title after winning the International Tennis Federation (ITF) W25 Chiang Rai with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Thai netter Luksika Kumkhum on Sunday at the Chiang Rai Sports Center in Thailand.
This title is Eala’s second pro crown and comes a little over a year after she captured her first one at the W15 Manacor in Spain.
Kumkhum put Eala on her heels early, breaking the Filipina’s serve in the match’s very first game. However, Eala was not fazed and broke her opponent’s serve in the next game to tie it at 1-1.
Later in the set, Kumkhum had the inside track on breaking Eala’s serve as she led 40-15 with the game tied at 4-4. But Eala was relentless, staving off the double break point to eventually take the game and the lead, 5-4. Eala pounced on Kumkhum in the next game to take the set, 6-4.
The second set was all Eala’s as she zoomed off to a 4-1 lead and never let up to defeat Kumkhum, who was once ranked no. 66 in the world.