Alex Eala dominates ITF Monastir opener

MANILA, Philippines – A day after turning 18 years old, Alex Eala showed the form that made her one of the top young prospects in the world as she overwhelmed her opponent in the first round of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) W25 Monastir.

Eala made short work of 21-year-old qualifier Anja Wildgruber of Germany, 6-1, 6-1, on Wednesday, May 24, at the hard courts of the Hotel Skanes Family Monastir in Tunisia.

The Filipina teen tennis star lived up to her top billing as the No. 1 seed as she never gave her German rival any chance of getting into the match. 

Wildgruber, who has had some success in the same venue after reaching the semifinals of the ITF W25 Monastir in March, initially posed some semblance of a challenge when she tied at deuce on Eala’s serve in the opening game of the first set. But Eala immediately regained her composure to hold serve which she followed up by winning the next two games to go up 3-0.

Just as Eala threatened to pull away even further in the fourth game by going up 30-0, Wildgruber had her best stretch of the match by scoring four straight points to hold serve for the first time. Eala, though, made sure there would be no momentum swing as the Filipina went on another three-game spree to pocket the first set at 6-1.

Eala once again opened a 2-0 lead in the second set, but Wildgruber put herself on the scoreboard faster this time as she cut the deficit to 2-1. This seemed to have ignited a fire in Eala, who held serve then broke Wildgruber, both times at love, to pull away and never look back, closing out the second set with the same scoreline, 6-1.

So dominant was Eala that she never faced break point in the entire match which lasted just 55 minutes. 

In the second round, the top seeded Eala will face 23-year-old Nadine Keller of Switzerland. The unseeded Keller has been in sharp form in her last two tournaments, having reached the quarterfinals of the W25 Santa Margherita Di Pula in Italy and the third round of the W60 Bellinzona in Switzerland in April. – Rappler.com