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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Eala edges Fil-Aussie rival, advances to second round in Ilkley Open

Eala edges Fil-Aussie rival, advances to second round in Ilkley Open

Published Jun 11, 2025 10:24 am  |  Updated Jun 11, 2025 02:15 pm
Alex Eala advances to second round in Ilkley Open. (File Photo/Alex Eala Facebook)
Alex Eala advances to second round in Ilkley Open. (File Photo/Alex Eala Facebook)

Top seed Alex Eala fought back from a tight opening set to overcome Fil-Australian Lizette Cabrera, 7-6 (4), 6-3, at the start of the Lexus Ilkley Open in Great Britain on Tuesday, June 10 (early Wednesday, Philippine time).

The 20-year-old Eala dug deep in outlasting her hard-serving former doubles partner in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA125) tournament match that lasted one hour and 46 minutes.

It was Eala’s first win on grass in her second tournament of the season after exiting early in the Birmingham Open last week.

Ranked No. 77 in the world, Eala rallied from a 1-3 first-set deficit and kept the match close by leveling the scores to 3-all and 5-all before eventually forcing a tiebreak.

Eala gained control of the second frame after that hard-fought opening-set victory despite resilient attempts from Cabrera, who fired seven aces throughout the match.

With the triumph, Eala arranged a second-round meeting with qualifier Valentina Ryser of Switzerland, another hard-serving player who toppled Japanese Sara Saito, 6-0, 6-4.

This would be the third time that Eala and Ryser are facing each other with the first meeting at the W25 Yecla in Spain two years ago, where the Filipina won their finals match, 6-3, 7-5.

Their second meeting, however, saw Ryser edging Eala in three sets in the second round of the W75 Trnava in Slovakia just last March.

The 24-year-old Ryser, ranked No. 230, boasts seven International Tennis Federation (ITF) singles titles, while Eala has five.

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