FILIPINA tennis phenom Alex Eala dumped American Alana Smith 6-0, 6-0 yesterday to book a spot in the opening round of the W60 Henderson Tennis Open in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Eala, 17, who lost in the second round of her previous tournament, outplayed the hapless Smith in under an hour.
She advanced against American Daylana Hewitt in the $60,000 (around P3.5 million) event organized by the International Tennis Federation.
It was another all-around virtuoso display by the reigning US Open girls singles champion, who won 14-of-19 points on her first serve for a high 74 percent clip in contrast to Smith’s 42 percent norm (8/19).
She was also solid on her second serve, earning 10-of-15 points (67 percent) while her rival had a measly two-of-16 for a 13 percent clip. — Bong Pedralvez
