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Alex Eala reaches the second round of the Eastbourne Open in England as she drops just one game in a lopsided win over Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti
MANILA, Philippines – After a bruising battle that lasted almost three hours on Sunday, June 22, Alex Eala worked out a clinical victory on Monday, June 23, that took just a little over an hour to finish.
Eala scored a lopsided 6-0, 6-1 win over Lucia Bronzetti of Italy in the opening round of the WTA 250 Lexus Eastbourne Open main draw at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club in England.
Coming off an exhausting three-set win over world No. 56 Hailey Baptiste of the United States in the last round of the qualifiers, Eala had to contend with a fresh and well-rested Bronzetti, who last played on June 16 in the Nottingham Open.
But Eala showed no signs of fatigue as she pummeled world No. 61 Bronzetti from the baseline to the net in a display of dominance reminiscent of her triumph over Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez in the first round of the qualifiers on Saturday, June 21.
The 20-year-old Eala did not face a break point and went on to break Bronzetti thrice as she blanked the Italian in the opening set which ran for just 24 minutes.
Any hopes by 26-year-old Bronzetti for a better showing in the second set were immediately snuffed out by Eala, who opened up a 3-1 lead.
Bronzetti put up a fight in the last three games which all saw multiple deuces, but she never got any chance to earn a single service break, with Eala maintaining her sharpness. The Italian staged one final stance in the sixth game when she held off three break points, but the Filipina standout refused to be denied.
Eala broke Bronzetti for the fifth time to go up 5-1, eventually sealing the outcome of the match.
It was a surprisingly breezy triumph for Eala against the veteran Italian who has seen action multiple times in all the Grand Slam events. Bronzetti was instrumental in Italy emerging champion of the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup when she won her singles matches in the semifinals against Poland and in the finals against Slovakia.
Eala will finally get some much-needed rest on Tuesday, June 24, as she awaits the winner of the match between world No. 49 and home favorite Sonay Kartal of Great Britain and world No. 20 and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia. – Rappler.com
