By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala showed no mercy against hometown bet Astrid Cirotte as the reigning US Open Juniors champion cruised to an easy 6-1, 6-2 win to advance to the second round of the qualifiers in the W80 Poitiers International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in France Sunday, Oct. 23.
Eala, though, needed five break points to dismantle Cirotte and set up a meeting with another Frenchwoman in Diana Martynov – a 6-3, 6-1 winner over compatriot Yasmine Mansouri.
The match is set at 7 p.m. Monday.
Although younger to her rival by four years, the 17-year-old Eala boasts of a higher ranking with her career-high No. 248 against Martynov’s No. 870.
While Eala is bidding for her third pro title, Martynov is chasing her maiden pro crown.
The $80,000 tournament draws some of the fancied players inside the Top 100 of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings that include Diane Parry of France (No. 65), Tatjana Maria of Germany (No. 69), Jaqueline Adina Cristian of Romania (No. 82), Xinyu Wang of China (No. 88), Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic and Clara Tauson of Denmark (No. 94).
Eala, who triumphed in the W15 Manacor in Spain in 2021 and in the W25 Chiang Rai in Thailand early this year, is coming off a second round performance in Hamburg, Germany.
