By Nikole Javier
Alex Eala returned to action with a swift victory against Shavit Kimchi of Israel, 6-0, 6-0, in the opening round of ITF W60 Templeton on Wednesday, Sept. 28 (Thursday in Manila time) at the Templeton Tennis Ranch in California.
The US Open Girls champion buckled down to work and easily cruised to a convincing win over her foe who is three years her senior in less than an hour of action.
After breaking inside the top 300 ranking, Eala proved to be a real piece of work for Kimchi as she broke her serve six times and not once faced a break point during the entire match.
The 17-year-old received a wild card opportunity to enter the competition while Kimchi managed to reach the main draw via two qualifying wins.
However, a challenging task awaits Eala as she faces seventh seed Katarzyna Kawa of Poland in the second round of the bout on Thursday (Friday, Sept. 30 in Manila time).
The 29-year-old Kawa is currently 70th in the WTA rankings and won over Renata Zarazua of Mexico in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, on the same day.
Eala, who is currently gaining momentum to compete in more WTA events, will need to double on her preparation against Kawa who has won seven singles titles.