MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala ousted Aussie lucky loser Emerson Jones, 6-4, 6-3, to enter the WTA 250 Hong Kong Open second round at the Victoria Park Tennis Stadium Center Court in China Tuesday evening.
Fending off a feisty challenge in the first set from world No. 132 Jones who replaced the injured No. 59 Alycia Parks, world No. 17 and tournament No. 2 seed Eala dominated in the second.
Eala withstood one more surge of fight from Jones, though, as she won back-to-back games to pull within two at 3-5 before Eala finished off the match on a serve that the Aussie returned outside.
Wrapping up her first match in one hour and 23 minutes, Eala faces Czech and world No. 85 Tereza Valentova in the second round likely on Thursday.
Wednesday's order of play does not include the Eala-Valentova match as of posting time.
