MANILA, Philippines, October 22 ------ It had been over a month since Alex Eala won back-to-back matches. Now she hopes to carry on the momentum and make it three in a row in the main draw of the Guangzhou Open. In a battle of 19-year-old prospects, the Filipina prevailed over Elena Pridankina of Russia, 6-2, 6-2, in the last qualifying round of the WTA 250 event at the Nansha International Tennis Center in Guangzhou, China. The world No. 147 Eala was coming off a tough three-set victory over local bet Gao Xinyu, 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, in the opening round of the qualifiers.
Meanwhile, the world No. 179 Pridankina appeared sharper, scoring an impressive upset when she dominated in straight sets the highest ranked player in the qualifiers, world No. 89 Ukrainian Yulia Starodubtseva, 6-3, 6-1. Pridankina seemed to have carried over her fine form to Monday’s qualifying match as she broke Eala right in the very first game of the opening set. But that proved to be the only time the Russian got a chance to break in the match.
Eala answered with her own service break in the second game, and after a 2-2 deadlock, the Filipina swept the next four games, breaking Pridankina two more times. The second set was almost a repeat of the first set, except that Eala did not allow Pridankina any chance to break serve. From another 2-2 standoff, Eala again blanked Pridankina the rest of the way to finish the match in 1 hour and 33 minutes.
The last time Eala won consecutive matches was when she hurdled her two opponents in the qualifiers of the WTA 500 Guadalajara in Mexico last September. The Filipina teen standout aims to make a deep run in Guangzhou after exiting the first round of the main draw twice and the qualifying round once in her last three tournaments.
In the main draw which begins on Tuesday, October 22, Eala will be facing a field that includes China’s third-highest ranked player and world No. 44 Yue Yuan and world No. 45 Elina Avanesyan of Armenia, plus a pair of Czechs who beat Eala in September, world No. 47 Marie Bouzkova, and tournament top seed and world No. 48 Katerina Siniakova.
Source: rappler.com
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