Eala ousts Polish foe in 3 sets

Posted by ReyFort Media

ACHIEVING a mini milestone, Filipina ace Alex Eala subdued Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 in her opening-round singles match in the Internationali BNL D’Italia, also known as the Italian Open, at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy last night (Wednesday afternoon in Europe).

Playing at the Pietrangeli open court, Eala breezed through the  first set in 41 minutes then found herself in a 0-3 hole in the second as the Pole picked up her game.

Mixing her shots, Frech took the second set in convincing fashion, levelling the match at 1-all and sending it to a deciding third set.

Showing grit, the Pinay southpaw fell behind early at 2-3 but finally took the lead for the first time in the ninth game at 5-4 after holding serve and battling through four deuces.

Frech finally crumbled in her effort to extend the match in the next game, succumbing to three straight forehand errors to eventually lose after two hours and seven minutes of a riveting match.

Eala advanced to the second round for the first time of the WTA 1000 meet after losing 0-6, 1-6 to newly-crowned Madrid Open champion Marta Kostyuk of the Ukraine in the first round last year. (B. Pedralvez/Malaya)