ALEX Eala is back to her winning form, as she hurdled Belarussian Aliona Falei, 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the WTA 125 Jingshan Open in China.
The top-seeded Filipina, ranked No. 58 in the world, lived up to her billing against the No. 322-ranked Falei with complete domination of the opening set, leaning on an early 3-love advantage.
In the second set, Eala held her ground when the Belarussian displayed some resistance. They exchanged service breaks four times before the Filipina delivered her fifth break and followed it with a love game in the 12th to wrap up the match in 1 hour and
52 minutes.
She will next play against the winner between unseeded Japanese Mei Yamaguchi and Cody Wong of Hong Kong.
The 20-year-old Eala, who clinched her first WTA crown at the Guadalajara Open in Mexico earlier this month, is looking to bounce back after her recent quarterfinal loss to Indonesian Janice Tjen at the Sao Paulo Open, where her seven-match winning streak ended. / RP2 SPORTS