MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine bets Alex Eala and Shaira Rivera held off their Hong Kong rivals Lai Ching Laam and Liu Kallista, 6-1, 6-3, at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center Indoor Court B in Japan Tuesday evening to enter the 20th Asian Games tennis women's doubles second round.
Unable to close out Lai and Liu in the eighth game of the second set, Eala and Rivera blanked the Hong Kong players the following game for the first round win.
Rivera delivered the clincher at the net as the Philippines finished the match in one hour and 17 minutes.
Eala and Rivera face the Chinese duo of Jiang Xinyu and Yang Zhaoxuan in the second round.
Jiang and Yang received a first-round bye.
