Alex Eala off to winning start in W100 Poland debut

Alex Eala in W100 Grodzisk Mazowiecki. –ALEX EALA FACEBOOK

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala kicked off her W100 Grodzisk Mazowiecki campaign with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Laura Svatikova of Slovakia, 6-4, 6-4, on Tuesday evening (Manila time) in Poland.

The 17-year-old shone in her first $100,000 appearance, unleashing strong starts in the first two sets to pace her sweep of Svatikova in their Round of 64 showdowns, which lasted for one hour and 23 minutes.

“Super happy to win my first W100k match! Laban pa (keep on fighting)!” she posted on Facebook shortly after her first win in Poland.

Eala advanced to the round of 32 against the 14th seed Katharina Hobgarski of Germany at 7 p.m. (Manila time).

The Rafael Nadal Academy scholar also tallied her new best ranking in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), rising to No. 280 from 282 last week.

Eala is eyeing her third professional title in her first W100 appearance after winning her first in W15 Manacor last year and making another championship run in W25 Chiang Rai last April.

She is coming off back-to-back semifinal appearances in the W60 Vitoria-Gasteiz and W25 El Espinar/Segovia last week in Spain.