Push Admin

Tennis: Alex Eala booted out of Japan Women’s Open

Article (news)

Rosy Mina

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Alex Eala at the 2023 W100 Tokyo tournament in Japan. Ando Securities Open on Facebook" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/09/06/20230906-alex-eala-at-the-2023-w100-tokyo-tournament-in-japan.jpg"/><figcaption>Alex Eala at the 2023 W100 Tokyo tournament in Japan. <em>Ando Securities Open on Facebook</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Qualifier Alex Eala failed to match her best WTA result after being defeated in the opening round of the Japan Women’s Open in Osaka.</p><p>The 18-year-old Filipino, currently at a career-best ranking of World No. 195, struggled against qualifier Himeno Sakatsume of Japan, 0-6, 3-6.</p><p>For the 184th-ranked Sakatsume, it was her first main draw triumph on the WTA Tour secured at the 250 level.</p><p>Eala, meanwhile, posted her maiden WTA main draw victory as a wildcard at the 2021 Winners Open in Romania, a WTA 250 event where she bested Argentine Paula Ormaechea before losing to Egyptian Mayar Sherif in the second round.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/amp/sports/09/10/23/tennis-eala-soars-into-main-draw-of-japan-womens-open">Tennis: Alex Eala soars into main draw of Japan Women’s Open</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/08/23/eala-kawaguchi-lose-to-2nd-seeds-in-w100-tokyo-semis">Tennis: Eala, Kawaguchi lose to 2nd seeds in W100 Tokyo semis</a></li></ul><p>In Tuesday’s opener at the ITC Utsubo Tennis Center, Eala’s string of errors gave her 22-year-old opponent a 3-0 lead.</p><p>Sakatsume, a five-time ITF women’s singles champion, notched a quick service hold at 40-15 then broke for the third time to serve for the set at 5-0.</p><p>Eala brought the next game to deuce, but her netted forehand allowed Sakatsume to claim the first set on her second set point, 6-0.</p><p>The Japanese ace took the early lead in the second set, 2-0, by breaking due to a double fault and holding serve after three deuces when Eala’s forehand crosscourt shot was called out.</p><p>The Filipino teen equalized by holding serve at love courtesy of a long forehand and then breaking on her third opportunity in the fourth game with a backhand service return down the line.</p><p>Sakatsume responded with a break at deuce, and held serve via a service winner to regain the lead at 4-2.</p><p>Eala, who has four ITF singles titles, inched closer at 3-4 by overcoming two deuces to win the game on serve.</p><p>Another hold by the Japanese forced Eala to serve to stay in the match at 3-5 in the ninth game, where Sakatsume advanced to 40-30 by firing a confident forehand approach shot winner.</p><p>Sakatsume converted her only match point after Eala hit a backhand into the net, 6-3, to reach the second round against World No. 39 and third seed Xinyu Wang of China or 138th-ranked Jil Teichmann of Switzerland, a two-time WTA champion.</p><p>In the qualifying draw, the No. 5 seed from the Philippines moved past 281st-ranked Mexican Fernanda Contreras in the first round, 6-3, 6-4.</p><p>She completed a comeback win over World No. 297 Sohyun Park of South Korea, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, to qualify for a WTA main draw for the second time in her career since the Thailand Open in January.</p><p>Just last week, Eala qualified for the W100 Tokyo on the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour and posted a singles second-round finish alongside her doubles semifinal result with home bet Natsumi Kawaguchi.</p><div><br/><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qgsafakvGuQ?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div> </div>

Qualifier Alex Eala failed to match her best WTA result after being defeated in the opening round of the Japan Women’s Open in Osaka.