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January 23, 2025 | 1:28pm
MANILA, Philippines -- Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala dominated her way to the next round of the W100 Bengaluru, crushing the Netherlands’ Arianne Hartono, 6-2, 6-1, Wednesday in India.
Eala, who suffered an early exit in the qualifiers of the Australian Open, vented her ire on Hartono, needing just an hour and eight minutes.
The Asian Games bronze medalist started the match strong, winning the first two games before Hartono equalized it at 2-2.
The 19-year-old Filipina won the next four games, taking the first set with the momentum firmly on her side.
Eala continued on with her run, going up 5-0 in the second set as she continued to assert her mastery against Hartono.
The Dutch tennister, however, tried to storm back, winning the sixth game and putting up a fight in the seventh.
But the Eala dug deep and eventually took control to grab the win and punch her ticket to the round-of-16.
Eala has defeated her opponent – ranked 163rd in the world – in all three of their matchups thus far.
In the second round, the Filipina will be taking on Slovenia’s Dalila Jakupovic, who earlier went through a three-setter against Elena Pridankina, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3.
