IN their rematch since their initial meeting at the Miami Open last April, Latvian Jelena Ostapenko was bent on revenge against Alex Eala, threatening to blow the Filipina netter off the court with a 6-0 shutout in the opening set of their second-round clash in the Lexus Eastbourne Open late Wednesday night (Wednesday afternoon in England).
But pliant as a bamboo, Eala, 20, refused to break after the first-set onslaught and recovered under the hot afternoon sun, battling strongly in the second set and showing she was ready to go the distance against the world No. 4 at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club.
In the end, it was former French Open champ Ostapenko who broke down, forced to retire just before the start of the sixth game of the deciding set with a painful sprained left ankle with the count at 0-6, 6-2, 3-2 after an hour of 37 minutes of play.
Ostapenko’s retirement paved the way for Eala’s repeat triumph – the fourth in a row against a higher-ranked foe stretching back to the qualifiers – and first entry into the quarterfinals of a WTA 250 meet.
She was set to face Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska, ranked No. 42 and a 6-2, 6-1 winner over England’s Francesca Jones, last night.
Proving pivotal in the pretty Pinay southpaw’s favor and underscoring her mental toughness was the first game of the third set, which went through five deuces before the Latvian was finally broken.
Ostapenko battled back to make it 1-2, but limped back, favoring her left foot, to her seat and called for a three-minute medical timeout for a physiotherapist to work on her hurting ankle.
Smelling blood, Eala held serve at 40-0 in the fourth game for a 3-1 edge as her rival was limited to playing to one side of the net.
Ostapenko managed to win one more game at 40-15 to make it 2-3, but after having another go with the PT, her face in pain, she decided not to prolong her agony any longer, approaching Eala at the net to congratulate her before leaving the court.
Eala commiserated with her injury-stricken rival, saying at the post-match interview: “Of course, it is never a good feeling to finish a match like that. I just hope everything is okay with her.
“Both of us were on the brink and it could have been anyone’s match so I wish her a speedy recovery and super happy to play again in this beautiful place.”
Asked if her qualifying stint made her adjust better to grass court play, Eala replied: “I mean, I love grass, it is growing on me and definitely, as you said, and I haven’t had many to be honest. A place as beautiful as this is just amazing to play.”
As for her duel with Yastremska, Eala said that “I am just counting my blessings, enjoying every minute I have on court, and hopefully I can bring a good level again tomorrow.”
Yastremska, 25, is something of a tennis wunderkind herself, reaching the 2016 Australian Open doubles finals where she and compatriot Anastasia Zarycka lost to Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya and Slovakia’s Teresa Mihalikova 1-6, 1-6.
