Eala hurdles opening foe

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala dispatched Australian Emerson Jones – a last-minute replacement for injured American Alycia Parks – with an easy 6-4, 6-3 win in Round 1 of the WTA250 Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open yesterday at the Victoria Park Tennis Stadium.

The second-seeded Eala raced to a 4-0 start on her way to a sweep in only 83 minutes of play against the WTA No. 132 Jones, who filled in as Parks, No. 59, withdrew due to a shoulder injury.

It was a display of sheer power for the lefty ace, who is riding the crest of a new career-best world ranking of No. 17 in the WTA on the heels of her  quarterfinal finish in the WTA500 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo over the weekend.

Eala will next face an old tormentor in WTA No. 85 Tereza Valentova of Czechia, who scored a 6-3, 7-5 win over No. 129 Himeno Sakatsume of Japan.

She has not won against the 19-year-old Czech in two meetings.

The 21-year-old Filipina fended off Jones’ fightback in the first set before running away with a 5-1 gap in the second for the win.

“It was a really good match. Emerson is such a sweetheart off the court and such a great player on the court. I’m so looking forward to many more matches together in the future,”said Eala.