Alex Eala falls to dominant Marta Kostyuk in Italian Open Round 1

May 8 ------ UKRANIAN Marta Kostyuk showed no mercy delivering a clinical performance against Alex Eala, 6-0, 6-1 in the opening round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. This ends the Filipina’s run in the WTA 1000 tournament and will next see action in the Roland Garros, making her Grand Slam debut in the pros. 

The match began with a fierce opening game that lasted 10 minutes, as Eala fought hard to hold serve. Despite Eala’s early resistance, Kostyuk, world no. 27, edged out the game to take a 1–0 lead, then proceeded to sweep the rest of the set, capitalizing on her consistent groundstrokes to gain control throughout. Just last Monday, Eala reached her career-high ranking of no. 70 in the world. 

In the following set, Kostyuk extended her lead to 4–0, continuing her aggressive baseline play and sharp returns before Eala finally broke through at 1–4. The Ukranian, though, despite the break in momentum, quickly regained control and closed out the match at 6–1, sealing a comprehensive win in just over an hour. Kostyuk now advances to the second round, where she will face Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, seeking to build on her strong form after a semifinal finish in Madrid last week. 

Meanwhile, Eala will shift focus to the doubles draw, where she is set to partner with world No. 3 Coco Gauff of the United States. The promising pair is scheduled to face Russia’s Alexandra Panova and Hungary’s Fanny Stollár in the opening round. The match is set for Friday, with the exact time still to be confirmed. 

Source: spin.ph