This time, tennis princess Alex Eala completed her Cinderella story, overpowering No. 2 seed Arina Rodionova of Australia, 6-2, 6-3, to rule the W25 Roehampton on Sunday night, Aug. 13, at the National Tennis Centre in Great Britain.
Eala, 18, hardly encountered trouble in this match as she displayed near-flawless game to annex her second International Tennis Federation (ITF) title this year, a follow up to her W25 Yecla triumph in Spain last June.
In all, the title victory was the fourth for the 250th-ranked Eala after stamping her class in the 2021 W15 Manacor in the Spanish island of Mallorca and the 2022 W25 Chiang Rai in Thailand.
But this title win would stand as one of Eala’s treasured moments in a flourishing career, having conquered the top three seeds on the way to the Promised Land.
She bundled out top seed Priscilla Hon of Australia, 6-2, 6-4 in their quarterfinals match before the 2022 US Open singles girls champion pulled off a 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-1 win over No. 3 seed Arianne Hortono of the Netherlands in the semis.
It was a great week, indeed.
In the opening set, Eala jumped to a commanding 5-1 lead as she piled up points behind her vast repertoire of shots, sometimes catching her rival flat-footed.
The second set was no different as Eala continued to baffle her en route to another 3-0 advantage.
The game was interrupted for a brief moment due to the rain, but there was no stopping Eala who brushed off 33-year-old Rodioniva’s late fightback, 5-3, to put the match away. (Nikole Javier)
