MANILA, Philippines, November 21 ------ Back on the pro tour and back on the winning track. Alex Eala played her first match in the pro tour in over three weeks and hardly showed any signs of rust, blasting 17-year-old wildcard and hometown bet Ena Koike, 6-2, 6-0, in the opening round of the ITF W100 Takasaki International Open in Japan.
The 19-year-old Eala was coming off a rough five-tournament stretch in the WTA Tour where she was eliminated in the opening round in four of those events and in the opening qualifying round in another one. She needed a confidence-boosting triumph to get herself back on track, and Koike proved to be the perfect foil as the Japanese, ranked 529th in the world, was totally outclassed by Eala.
Seeded fifth in the $100,000 event, Eala did not drop her serve the entire match and needed just an hour and three minutes to dispose of Koike at the Shimizu Zenzo Memorial Tennis Courts. The Filipina teen standout conceded just two games and did not allow Koike on the scoreboard until the fifth game of the opening set. By then, Eala had already established control of the match. The second set saw an even more dominant Eala who blanked her hapless Japanese foe in just 24 minutes.
Eala will next face another Japanese teen, 18-year-old Hayu Kinoshita, in the round of 16 on Friday, November 22. Eala’s drop in form as of late has led to her decline in the world rankings. Now at 163 in the world, Eala no longer is the highest ranked Southeast Asian as she has been overtaken by Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand who has risen to 139th. If Eala wins her second round match, she could potentially face Sawangkaew in the quarterfinals in a clash between the two best players of the region.
Source: rappler.com
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