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Fresh from capturing her first WTA 125 crown in the Guadalajara Open in Mexico, Alex Eala breezes past French qualifier Yasmine Mansouri to start her campaign in the WTA 250 Sao Paulo Open in Brazil
MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala extended her win streak as she aced her first test in the WTA 250 Sao Paulo Open in Brazil.
Fresh from capturing her first WTA 125 crown in the Guadalajara Open in Mexico, Eala breezed past French qualifier Yasmine Mansouri, 6-0, 6-2, in the round of 32 at the Villa-Lobos State Park on Tuesday, September 9 (Wednesday, September 10, Manila time).
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Winning a nip-and-tuck opening game marked by four deuces set the tone for the 20-year-old Filipina as she finished off Mansouri in just 1 hour and 10 minutes to clinch her sixth consecutive victory.
After a shutout win in the first set, Eala raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set before Mansouri, ranked No. 380 in the world, finally got on the board by holding serve in the fourth game.
But Eala — who climbed to No. 61 in the latest world rankings — proceeded with her demolition of the 24-year-old French, firing a forehand winner to go up 4-1 then nailing two of the next three games to wrap it up.
Seeded third, Eala will next face world No. 188 Julia Riera of Argentina in the round of 16 of the inaugural staging of the SP Open.
The SP Open marks the return of a WTA event in Sao Paulo since the city hosted the Brasil Open in 2000.
Offering $36,300 (over P2 million) to the champion, the SP Open belongs to the top-tier WTA Tour, which is a level above the WTA 125 series where Eala won the biggest professional title of her career days ago.
All of the top three seeds advanced as No. 1 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil and No. 2 Solana Sierra of Argentina posted similar straight-set triumphs. – Rappler.com