Alex Eala marked her return to junior action with a 6-3, 6-0 thumping of Annabelle Xu of Canada in the opening round of the US Open girl’s singles competition held on Sunday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City, United States.
Seeded 10th in the US Open, the 17-year-old Eala had to shrug off some rust in her first competition since her 2nd round exit last August 3 in the W100 Grodzisk Mazowieck, a pro event held in Poland.
Eala got off to a strong start in the opening set by going up 2-0. But the 18-year-old Xu came right back by breaking Eala’s serve in the third game and eventually tying the count at 2-2. Eala regained the lead and went up 4-2. Just when the Filipina seemed to have control of the match, Xu broke Eala’s serve anew and inched closer at 3-4.
That proved to be the last time Eala allowed Xu, 24th in the junior world ranking, to stay within striking distance in the match.
Eala broke Xu in the 8th game before closing out the set at 6-3.
When Eala finally got her groove, there was very little that Xu could do to fight back.
The second set was all Eala as she blanked her Canadian foe, 6-0.
The Filipina teen tennis star will face in the 2nd round 16-year-old Nina Vargova of Slovakia, currently the 28th ranked junior player in the world.
Eala, formerly ranked second in the world in juniors, has been campaigning in 2022 exclusively in the professional ranks. Her last junior tournament was a year ago, also in the US Open girl’s singles, when she reached the quarterfinals.
