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MANILA, Philippines – It has been close to two months since Alex Eala has reached the second round of a pro tour event.
In five out of her last six tournaments since April 16, Eala was eliminated each time in three sets in either the qualifiers or the opening round.
The only time she made it past the first round was the WTA Masters Madrid Open last April 25 when she downed former US Open quarterfinalist Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine.
Eala made sure to break out of that slump on Tuesday, June 18, when she outlasted Carole Monnet of France, 6-3, 7-5, to open her campaign in the WTA Veneto Open in Gaiba, Italy.
The Filipina teen standout had to dig herself out of the trenches a number of times to secure the hard-fought victory.
The second set appeared to be Monnet’s for the taking, opening a 5-3 lead and earning double set points on her serve at 40-15 in the ninth game.
But Eala displayed resilience and not only rallied to tie at 40-40, but also saved three more set points after before eventually claiming the game to trim the deficit to 4-5.
Eala then faced another double set point hole with Monnet holding double break point at 15-40.
Determined not to extend the match to a deciding third set, Eala staged another comeback and survived a total of four set points in the 10th game to draw even at 5-5.
That seemed to have zapped the fight out of Monnet as the Filipina star broke serve in the 11th game, then closed out on her serve to win the match that lasted two hours.
Eala also had to overcome a slow start, which saw her getting broken by the 22-year-old Monnet in the very first game of the match.
Monnet, currently 197th in the world with a career-high ranking of 162 last September, jumped to a 2-0 start in the first set.
Eala, however, maintained her composure, grabbing the next three games to seize the lead.
Even with Monnet drawing even at 3-3, this did not stymie Eala’s momentum as the Filipina blanked Monnet the rest of the way to win the opening set, 6-3.
Eala’s recent rough showings has resulted in her world ranking plummeting to 169 from a career-high of 157, which she attained last May 27.
She will look not only to arrest that skid but also to go deep in the tournament this week, with Wimbledon set to begin on July 1.
Eala will next face fellow 19-year-old Giorgia Pedone of Italy, the hometown bet who upset world 96 Hailey Baptiste of the United States, and recently made the second round of the French Open.
The Veneto Open is a WTA 125 or Challenger event, the second-highest level of competition in the women’s pro tour.
The tournament is the first WTA 125 event played on grass courts and is one of the events players join in preparation for Wimbledon. – Rappler.com
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