Use this instead: Filipina tennis star Alex Eala in action against Pakistan's Sarah Ibrahim Khan in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, on September 25, 2023. Eala won their match, 6-0, 6-0. POC-PSC Media Pool.
Fourth seed Alex Eala of the Philippines kicked off her maiden Asian Games campaign in Hangzhou, China with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Sarah Ibrahim Khan of Pakistan in the women’s singles second round on Monday.
Eala, who received a bye in the opening round, will face 13th seed Rutuja Bhosale of India or Aruzhan Sagandikova of Kazakhstan in the third round.
In the first match on Court 5 at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre, the 18-year-old Eala zoomed to a 5-0 lead by quickly notching service holds and breaks of serve.
The four-time ITF women’s singles champion with three Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) bronze medals concluded the first set with a love hold, 6-0.
Khan, 32, managed to save two break points in the first game of the second set until her serve was broken for the fourth time.
At 1-0, Eala sailed to 4-0 via two love holds and one love break.
She broke for the sixth time to serve for the win at 5-0, easily earned three match points, and prevailed at 6-0 with another love hold.
The 2022 US Open Juniors singles champion secured a total of four love holds and broke to love thrice.
The Filipino teen sensation had five aces, two double faults, and 48 total points won while the Pakistani veteran had three double faults and six total points won.
Eala, who reached a new career-high ranking of WTA World No. 190 this week, is the youngest among the Top 5 women’s seeds at the 19th edition of the Asiad.
China’s Qinwen Zheng and Lin Zhu are the Top 2 seeds, Ankita Raina of India is the third seed, and Na Lae Han of South Korea is the No. 5 seed.
Meanwhile, Eala will also see action in the mixed doubles event with fellow junior doubles grand slam champion Francis Casey Alcantara.
The No. 14 seeds will play against Sunira Thapa and Pranav Khanal of Nepal in the second round after both tandems received a bye.
On Sunday, two-time SEAG men’s doubles gold medalists and fourth seeds Alcantara and Ruben Gonzales lost in the first round to Thantub Suksumrarn and Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul of Thailand, 6-4, 4-6, 5-10.
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