Eala crushes Japanese rival, books quarters berth in Jingshan Open
At A Glance
- Alex Eala resumed her dominance and crushed Mei Yamaguchi, 6-0, 6-3, to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2025 Jingshan Tennis Open in China on Thursday, Sept. 25.
Alex Eala (AP/File)
Alex Eala resumed her dominance and crushed Mei Yamaguchi, 6-0, 6-3, to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2025 Jingshan Tennis Open in China on Thursday, Sept. 25.
The top-seeded Filipina hardly broke a sweat in outclassing her Japanese rival to strengthen her campaign for another Women's Tennis Association title.
Up next for Eala is the winner between China's Lu Jiajing and India's Riya Bhatia, who are playing at press time.
So dominating was Eala -- the only top 100 WTA player in the tournament -- that she needed 72 minutes to dispatch Yamaguchi, who is ranked No. 268.
The Japanese showed signs of life in the second set, where she held her serve to trim her deficit to 1-2, before breaking Eala's serve for 2-4.
Getting confident, Yamaguchi managed to win the next game for 3-4.
Despite the Japanese's resistance, Eala kept her momentum as the top Filipina tennis player went on to win the next two games to close out the match.
Her powerful strokes and returns also enabled her to remain flawless throughout the WTA125 tournament so far after a 6-3, 7-5 triumph over Belarusian Aliona Falei in the opening round a few days back.
Her latest conquest was enough to bolster her impressive year so far, which was highlighted by her maiden WTA title win at the Guadalajara Open in Mexico early this month.