Alex Eala needed almost two hours to stave off Aliona Falei in her opening match at the Jingshan Tennis Open.
Alex Eala returned to action and faced a stiff challenge in the second set as she needed almost two hours to escape Aliona Falei in two sets, 6-3, 7-5, in their Round of 32 battle at the Jingshan Tennis Open in China on Tuesday afternoon.
Eala, who is beginning her Asian leg of tournaments, struggled to breakaway from Falei in the second set.
Despite relatively dominating against her lower ranked foe in the first set, where she zoomed to a 3-0 start before tapering off late, Eala could not finish off her opponent easily with an extended set in the second frame.
In Set 2, Eala was unable to shake off Falei until the final moments of the match.
Eala’s serve was broken at a crucial moment when Falei blanked her in Game 10 to extend the set, 5-5.
Luckily for Eala, she was able to shake off any nerves and win back-to-back games to avoid the third set decider and march on in the tournament.
Eala is seeded first in the tournament.
She will likely face Mei Yamaguchi in the next round as she is still in the midst of her Round of 32 match against Hong Kong’s Cody Wong as of writing.
Eala is targeting her second career WTA Challenger title in the tournament.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.