Eala wins first WTA title in Mexican joust
WITH talent and skill, all athletes can go far; add grit and they rise to a different level.
This was superbly displayed early yesterday morning (Saturday in Mexico) by Alex Eala, who showed nerves of steel to score an emphatic come-from-behind 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over upset-conscious Panna Udvardy of Hungary to rule the Abierto Zapopan Open women’s singles finals in Zapopan, Mexico.
Playing with ferocious tenacity after losing the first set at the Grandstand Caliente court of the Panamerican Tennis Center, the second-seeded Eala, ranked No. 75 in the world, eventually subdued Udvardy (No. 34) after a marathon match lasting two hours and 30 minutes.
With the victory, the 20-year-old Filipina southpaw bagged her first WTA 125 crown, earning precious 125 Women’s Tennis Association ranking points in the process while avenging a 6-7 (4-7), 4-6 second-round loss to the Hungarian in the Oeiras Ladies Open in Oeiras, Portugal last April.
Eala redeemed herself in her second finals appearance this year in the professional tour after a heartbreaking loss last June in the finals of the WTA 250 Eastbourne Open in the United Kingdom, where she lost to Maya Joint of Australia in a thrilling three-setter decided by a tiebreak 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (12/10).
The victory was worth P7,123,000 for Eala and her ranking rose to No. 62.
Two weeks ago, Eala made history as the first Filipino to win a Grand Slam main draw match in the open era after beating world No. 14 Clara Tauson of Denmark in the US Open 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13/11).
Eala rallied past American Varvara Lepchenko 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 in a rain-interrupted round-of-16 match last week, then took out Italian veteran Nicole Foss Hurego, 30, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 in the quarterfinals, all on the same day.
She then strolled past American Kayla Day 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals last Friday (Saturday in Manila) to set up a title showdown with Udvardy, who eliminated Russian Maria Kozyreva 6-3, 6-4 in her own semis tussle.
Things looked bleak for Eala at the start as she won only one game in the first set – the third while holding serve – as Udvardy, who fired five aces to none for her foe, toyed around with her and seemed poised to duplicate her victory over the Pinay netter five months ago.
But her opponent would have none of it, with Eala gaining a pivotal service break in the third game of the second set to go up 2-1 as Udvardy hit a long and wide backhand, padding it to 4-1 as she won the next two games.
The closest that the Hungarian could get from thereon was 5-6 before Eala wrapped it up in the 12th game after batting through five deuces, clinching the set as Udvardy committed two successive errant forehands.
Feeling more at ease in the third and deciding set, Eala surged to a 3-1 lead behind a steady baseline game on the way to securing the well-deserved triumph.
She will barely have a respite as she goes down further south to play in the main draw as the No. 3 seed of the Sao Paulo Open, a WTA 250 tournament, starting today, Tuesday in Manila, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
