SHOWCASING her sharpest form in recent weeks, Filipina top seed Alex Eala swept past Swiss Valentina Ryser 6-1, 6 -2 last night (Thursday afternoon in England) and into the women’s singles quarterfinals of the WTA 125 Lexus Ilkley Open in West Yorkshire, England.
From a 1-all deadlock in the first set, Eala was virtually invincible in taking the next five games, battling through two deuces in holding serve in the seventh to go up 1-0 in under 30 minutes on center court of the Ilkley Lawn and Squash Club.
She sustained the pressure against her embattled rival in the second set to finally seal the deal in an hour and eight minutes of dominant play on the way to her second straight grass-court win.
Eala was scheduled to play in the semifinals the winner of the match between No. 8 seed Rebecca Marino and hometown bet Emily Appleton, which was still being played at press time.
She was able to assert her mastery over her Swiss opponent in their second straight encounter with less difficulty after fashioning a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 decision in the second round of the W75 Trnava meet in Trnava, Slovakia last March.
