JUST 61 minutes of dominant play.
This was how long it took Filipina tennis star Alex Eala to breeze past Italian veteran Lucia Bronzetti 6-0, 6-1 last Monday night (Monday afternoon in England) to mark her women’s singles debut in the main draw of the Lexus Eastbourne Open in Eastbourne, England.
Entering the tournament with a Women’s Tennis Association No. 74 world rating, Eala, 20, made mincemeat of Bronzetti, ranked No. 61 in the world, at the more than century-old Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club located 126.7 kilometers southeast of the English capital of London.
The awe-inspiring performance was in far contrast to the wringer she had to go through in beating American Haylie Baptiste in three sets 6-7(1-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 in the second qualifying round over the weekend.
A Paris Olympian, the experienced Bronzetti, 26, seemed favored on paper, having reached the second and third rounds, respectively, of the last Australian and French Opens.
But the pretty Pinay southpaw showed the gallery who owned the court – her first tour-level grass-court win – that drew notice even on the WTA website in its summary of the matches of the day.
“Miami semifinalist Eala had qualified with wins over Zeynep Sonmez and Hailey Baptiste and delivered a near-flawless performance to defeat Bronzetti,” the report said.
“Taking the ball early and redirecting it with ease, the 20-year-old Filipina rattled off a series of brilliant winners and never let up her intensity,” it noted.
“Among the highlights were an exquisite drop shot to seal set point in the opener after an 18-shot rally, and a terrific forehand down the line on the run that ended a 22-stroke exchange in the second set,” it added.
The Filipina netter was tops in all departments, including winning 28-of-39 points on first serve for an impressive 72 percent conversion compared to the 54 percent clip of the Italian (22/41), and 61 percent on total return points won (25/41) to her rivals’ meager 23 percent (9/39).
