Philippines' Alex Eala in action at the Jingshan Open.
Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala extended her winning run in China after overpowering Japan’s Mei Yamaguchi, 6-0, 6-3, to secure a spot in the Jingshan Open quarterfinals.
Originally scheduled outdoors, the match was moved indoors due to rain, which is a shift that played into Eala’s strengths.
With the faster indoor conditions suiting her aggressive game, the No. 1 seed wasted no time asserting control to a commanding 5-0 lead en route to a flawless opening set, winning seven straight games stretching into the second set.
World No. 268 Yamaguchi tried to rally and got on the board in the second set, but Eala’s solid baseline play kept her ahead.
READ: Tennis: Alex Eala takes down Falei, advances in Jingshan Tennis Open
The Japanese player managed to break serve once and hold through a tense deuce battle to trail just 4-3, but Eala was steadier, sealing the victory 6-3 with authority.
With back-to-back wins over Belarus’ Aliona Falei and Yamaguchi, Eala is now through to the quarterfinals, where she will meet 35-year old Jia-Jing Lu, who holds a 28/22 W/L record of the year, ranked No. 349 by the WTA.
The Chinese bet had a career-high ranking of No. 162 in 2019.