Alex Eala advances with rout of Priscilla Hon in Birmingham Open

FILE–Philippines’s Alexandra Eala in action. (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines–Alex Eala cruised past Priscilla Hon, 6-0, 6-2, to open her singles campaign in the WTA 125 Birmingham Open on Tuesday.

After losing her doubles match the day before, Eala bounced back with a wire-to-wire victory in the Round of 32 of her first tournament of the grass season.

READ: Alex Eala proud of progress despite early French Open exit

The tournament’s top seed wasted no time asserting herself against Hon, racing to a 6-0 first-set win in just 22 minutes.

Hon, ranked No. 143 in the WTA, showed more resistance in the second set, winning back-to-back games after Eala built a 5-0 lead.

The Australian broke Eala for the first time in the match and then held serve to trim the deficit to 5-2, but the Filipino tennis star responded with a love hold to close out the match in less than an hour.

In an on-court interview, Eala thanked the Filipino fans in Birmingham who came out to support her.

“Maraming salamat sa suporta. I didn’t expect there to be so many Filipinos here. See you all tomorrow,” the world No. 37 told the crowd.

Eala improved her head-to-head record against Hon to 2-1. Hon won their most recent meeting at the Ningbo Open in October 2024, while Eala prevailed in their first encounter in Roehampton in 2023.

Eala faces the winner between Green Minnen and Alina Charaeva in the Round of 16.