Alex Eala made quick work of a familiar foe after dominating Arriane Hartono of the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-1, in the first round of the ITF W100 Bengaluru in India Wednesday, Jan. 22.

Weeks after her early exit in Australian Open qualifiers, the 19-year-old Eala regained her form and showed no mercy throughout her one-hour showdown against the much-older Hartono, who the Filipina beat twice before their encounter.

With her win, Eala arranged a second round clash with Slovenian qualifier Dalila Jakupovic, who earned her second round ticket as she dispatched Russian Elena Pridankina (7-6, 3-6, 6-3).

The No. 5 seed Eala took the tempo immediately after securing the first two frames despite the Dutch showing some resistance early on.

Eala continued her onslaught in the second frame where she took a 5-0 lead which was enough to take the fight out of Hartono.

Despite a quick exit in the Australia Open recently, Eala managed to rise and improved her WTA rankings to No. 136 – the highest so far from a Southeast Asian netter.