MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala made sure her return to the Italian Open would not end just like the last one.
Eala won her opening-round assignment in the WTA 1000 tournament after surviving Poland’s Magdalena Frech in a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 win at the Foro Italico in Rome on Wednesday, May 6.
Climbing two spots to No. 42 in the latest WTA rankings, the Filipina tennis ace outlasted Frech in a match that took 2 hours and 7 minutes to finish as she redeemed herself from her round of 128 exit in the same tournament a year ago.
In 2025, Eala failed to make it past the first round in Rome after a swift 6-0, 6-1 loss to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.
Eala stared at another round of 128 departure as the Polish world No. 45 grabbed a 3-1 lead in the deciding set, but the Filipina won five of the next six games as she broke Frech twice to advance.
Up next for Eala is China’s world No. 33 Wang Xinyu, who received a first-round bye as the 31st seed.
Eala has redemption on her mind as she hopes to get back at Wang after she lost to the Chinese in the semifinals of the ASB Classic in New Zealand in January — a defeat that denied the Filipina her second appearance in a WTA Tour finals.
The Eala-Wang clash is set for Thursday, May 7. – Rappler.com