MANILA – No. 17 seed Alexandra Eala marched to the next round of the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open after a walkover win over Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse early Sunday morning (PH time).
The Filipino world No. 20 was leading, 6-1, 3-0, when play was halted due to rain. Ruse, citing an ankle injury, did not return when play resumed at Tony Trabert Stadium 3 after about an hour.
Eala will next face No. 9 seed American Amanda Anisimova, who prevailed over Turkish Zeynep Sonmez, 6-2, 6-3.
“I think that I was playing well. I think I felt the ball good, was really focused and tried to keep myself in the zone. I think I did a good job of that,” the 21-year-old Eala said during the post-match press conference.
“Of course, nobody likes to finish a match with a retirement. First and foremost, I just want to wish Gabriela-Ruse a speedy recovery. Injuries aren’t fun, so I hope she recovers soon,” added Eala, who lost to Ruse, 6-3, 1-6, 1-4, in their first meeting at the 2024 US Open qualifiers.
Eala defeated world No. 3 Jessica Pegula of the United States, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, to claim her first WTA 500 title at the Mubadala DC Open in Washington two weeks ago.
She also won the WTA 125 Guadalajara Open in Mexico over Hungary’s Panna Udvardy 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, last year. (PNA)
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