By NIKOLE JAVIER
In a battle of two rising stars, Alex Eala emerged victorious over Japanese Natsumi Kawaguchi.
Eala, 18, tormented his rival with a mix of devastating shots plus some clever shots to hack out a 6-3, 6-4 win over her Japanese friend in the first round of the W100 Tokyo International Tennis Federation (ITF) on Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Interestingly, the four-time ITF champion Eala, who reached the Round of 16 of her first $100,000 event, is also set to compete in the doubles side later on the same day with Kawaguchi.
Kawaguchi was a hard nut to crack.
Unknown to many, the 21-year-old Kawaguchi and partner Adrienn Nagy won the girls doubles title in the 2019 Australian Open and was a one-time runner in the US Open girls singles event.
The two fought almost evenly but it was Eala who produced the harder shots that made the difference.
As in the past, Eala had trouble with her serve, she committed 9 double faults that put to waste her aces.
Eala made it to the main draw not after going through two qualifying rounds capped by a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Finnish rival Anastasia Kulikova.
That victory gave Eala the extra motivation and quickly raced to a 5-1 lead despite losing serve early on.
Home bet Kawaguchi responded with a 4-3 fightback in the following set which was the last time she nearly closed the gap on Eala.
Currently ranked with a career-high No. 195, Eala emerged victorious in the first qualifying round against another Japanese foe in Kanako Morisaki, 6-4, 6-2, before blasting her Finnish rival.
Up next for the Filipina is Australian Kimberly Birrell on Wednesday, Sept. 6.
