Eala wallops Parry

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala started her path to redemption in style, taking a convincing 6-3, 6-1 win over Diane Parry of France in Round 1 of the WTA500 Ningbo Open yesterday at the Yinzhou International Tennis Center.

Eala closed a hard-fought opener with a 3-0 blast before pouncing on the momentum for a 4-0 lead to start the second on her way to a straight-sets win that got her back on feet after a series of setbacks.

The 21-year-old Filipina pride, who slid to world No. 20 from those stumbles, will face either No. 6 seed Diana Shnaider of Russia (WTA No. 13) or No. 66 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in the second round.

The win against a competitive and high-ranked player in No. 34 Parry served as a much-needed boost for Eala after back-to-back upsets as the heavy favorite in the WTA500 Singapore Open and the WTA1000 Wuhan Open.

Parry, 24, was no pushover either in terms of accolades and experience, having won the WTA 500 Monterrey Open, part of the North American swing where Eala also hoisted her first-ever WTA Tour title with a win in the WTA500 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington.

That championship run for Eala ignited a third-round finish in the US Open, where she was seeded 29th – the highest for any Filipino ever, and led to a new career-best ranking at No. 18, the highest for any Southeast Asian in history.