Eala makes quick work of Hon to open Birmingham singles' bid

MANILA, Philippines -- Domination. 

Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala hardly broke sweat in the opening round of the Lexus Birmingham Open singles’ action, blasting Priscilla Hon 6-0, 6-2, Tuesday evening (Manila time.) 

The top seed of the tournament nearly had a double bagel in the match, winning the first 11 games, before Hon strung together back-to-back games to keep herself alive, 2-5. 

But the World No. 37 tennister blanked her opponent in the clincher to secure the victory in exactly 59 minutes against the World No. 143 Australian. 

Eala punched in 27 receiving points compared to her opponent’s 10. She also won 26 service points to Hon’s 17. 

“I think it was a good match, a good performance… and I’m happy, of course especially this is my first match on grass [this season],” the Filipina said. 

“Maraming salamat mga kababayan .I didn’t expect many Filipinos to be here. Significantly more than last year, and magkita tayo bukas,” she added. 

Eala thus made up for her early exit from the tournament’s doubles’ action, where she and partner Nikola Bartunkova fell to the hometown duo of Harriet Dart and Maia Lumsden. 

She will now face either World No. 164 Greet Minnen of Belgium, or World No. 130 Alina Charaeva of Russia.