Alex Eala regained her winning form after a dominant victory over France’s Diane Parry, 6-3, 6-1, in the Ningbo Open first round on Monday night in China.
Eala claimed her first win in the Asian swing of the WTA Tour after opening-match losses to unseeded Russian Tatiana Prozorova at the Singapore Open and Chinese qualifier Shi Han in Wuhan on Tuesday.
‘I’m very happy with my performance. I think it was a really good, tough first round,’ Eala said.
‘Diane’s really a great player. I think she’s had a really good year, so congrats to her for the year she’s done, and I’m really happy to be in the second round.’
Eala trailed 1-2 after Parry served to love, but that was the last time the French World No. 34 held serve.
The 21-year-old Eala chalked up six straight breaks of serve to take five of the next six games in the opening set and race to a commanding 5-1 lead in the second.
Filipino fans again came out to support their hero, who didn’t disappoint following a dazzling performance at Center Court.
‘Thank you so much for the support. It really makes my job very fun, even in the difficult moments, so I’m really happy to be here,’ Eala said.
Eala, who slipped two spots to 20th in the latest rankings, faces the winner between World No. 13 and sixth seed Diana Shnaider and Yulia Putintseva in the round of 16.
Eala picked up her first win on Tour since sweeping Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova in the US Open second round last Sept. 3. She then lost an epic three-set battle to her close friend and American rising star Iva Jovic in the third round in Flushing Meadows followed by the disappointing defeats to Prozorova and Shi.
Parry, who claimed her maiden WTA crown last August at the Monterrey Open, dropped her fifth consecutive match and fell to 0-12 against top-20 players on hard courts. She scored just 11 winners and had 25 unforced errors against Eala.