Eala dominates higher-ranked foe, advances to Round of 16 of Eastbourne Open

Sports

ALEX Eala handled a higher-ranked opponent with ease, pulling off a lopsided win after going through a hard-fought battle in her previous outing.

The 20-year-old Eala, now ranked No. 74 in the world, dominated world No. 61 Lucia Bronzetti of Italy, 6-0, 6-1, to advance to the Round of 16 of the WTA 250 Lexus Eastbourne Open in Great Britain on Monday, June 23.

The Filipina tennis star will next face the winner between Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal and world No. 20 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.

Eala had faced Kartal and Ostapenko in previous tournaments.

Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, was one of Eala’s high-profile victims in her historic Miami Open run last March. Eala trounced Ostapenko in the second round of the Miami Open, 7-6(7), 7-5.

Eala and Kartal met in the W60 Trnava in Slovakia two years ago with the Filipina suffering a 2-6, 2-6 setback.

Scoring three straight wins in the Eastbourne Open, Eala looked sharp in the lead up to her second Grand Slam stint in the upcoming Wimbledon slated this week.

The Asian Games double-bronze started the tournament with a 6-1, 6-3 win in the qualifiers’ opening round against Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, 6-1, 6-3.

Before advancing to the main draw with the win over Bronzetti, Eala went through the wringer in beating American Hailey Baptiste, 6-7(7), 7-6(7), 6-1.(CCM)