ALEXANDRA Eala’s steadiness at the baseline and two service winners in the final game lifted her to a 6-3, 7-5 stopping of Belarusian netter Aliona Falei in the Round of 32 of the women’s singles’ event on Tuesday (Manila time) in the WTA 125 Jingshan Tennis Open.
The win put the 20-year-old Eala in the second round (Round of 16) with second seed Australian Talia Gibson and unseeded Ma Yexin, after stopping Falei in their 111-minute encounter at the center court of the Jingshan International Tennis Tournament Center
The 5’9” Eala, who is comfortable playing at hard court surfaces, stood her ground in the 12th game of the final set, never letting Falei score a single point for a 40-0 scoreline.
Her long forehand volley, followed by straight and true passing shot, plus two service winners gave Eala the last four points she needed to reach the next round.
Gibson advanced with Eala after she hurdled Wang Meiling, 6-4, 6-4, while Ma pulled off a 6-4, 6-3 upset of British netter Jodie Burrage.
Eala quickly took the upperhand after breaking Falei’s serve once in the first set of their encounter in this $160,000 event.
After breaking serve in the second game of the first, Eala took the momentum when she gained a 3-0 lead, 40-15.
Currently at world no. 58, Eala went on to take first set after Falei double faulted and sent her long forehand return out of bounds.
She now waits for the match between Hong Kong’s Cody Wong and Japanese netter Mei Yamaguchi to find out who her next foe will be.
Eala is coming from a brief rest in Manila, after a series of great showings in Mexico and Brazil.
