APPARENTLY affected by an aching left shoulder – her hitting arm – Alex Eala had a promising start but was unable to hang on yesterday (Sunday in Canada) against former Czech Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, who came from behind to fashion a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win in the women’s singles opening round of the National Bank Open by Rogers in Montreal, Canada.
In her first outing since her first-round exit at the Wimbledon Open, Eala, 20, was able to go toe-to-toe with Vondrousova, ranked six rungs higher than her at No. 63, until her shoulder started acting up, calling for a medical timeout in the third set to retape the shoulder.
Also coming back from injury, the Czech, behind seven aces, eventually overpowered her Filipina foe after two hours and six minutes of play between the two lefties on center court at the 11,000-seat IGA Stadium in the French-speaking city.
“I expected that (Eala] was gonna play a great match and she had some good results before, so I expected that match. So, it was a tough one so I’m very happy to beat her,” the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist said after the match.
“She’s (Eala) very aggressive… My serve was better in the second and third sets, so I’m very happy to fight back in this match,” added the winner, who will meet Italian Marta Kostyuk in the second round.
On the other hand, Eala will lick her wounds and hopefully have more time to recover before competing in another WTA 1000 tournament, the Cincinnati Open, unfolding on Aug. 7 at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.
