MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala turned back Polish Magdalena Frech, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4, in the WTA 1000 Italian Open first round at the Stadio Pietrangeli Court in Rome Wednesday evening in Manila.
Completing a comeback from a 1-3 game disadvantage in the third set, Eala advanced to the second round (round of 64) to face No. 31 seed Wang Xinyu of China in a rematch.
Wang received a first-round bye.
Eala fell to Wang, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, at the ASB Classic Semifinals in New Zealand last January.
