Alex Eala sustains strong start, beats home bet in French tiff

MANILA, Philippines, March 3 ------ Alex Eala is through to the Round of 16 of the W25 Joue le Tours after beating wild card Jenny Lim, 6-1,6-4, in her first match in the main draw on Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time). Buoyed by her two wins in qualifiers, Eala sweeped the French tennister, needing only a little over one hour to dispatch her opponent.

After two tournaments where she exited despite strong starts, Eala seemed to have learned her lesson against Lim as she kept her momentum going in the second set after a convincing 6-1 victory to open the match. The 16-year-old zoomed to a 5-1 lead in the second set, but struggled to close out as Lim was able to win three games in a row to cut her deficit to just one game, 4-5. Fortunately for Eala, she was able to break Lim's serve in the 10th game of the set to seal the victory and prevent Lim from coming back.

Eala faces a familiar face in the Round of 16 on Thursday as she is set to clash with Russia's Oksana Selekhmeteva who she won the French Open Girls' Doubles crown in 2021 with.

Source: philstar.com