Alex Eala marches to the third round of the Cincinnati Open as she eases past Elena-Gabriela Ruse, arranging a first-time clash with world No. 10 Amanda Anisimova

MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala returned to her triumphant ways with one of her most dominant showings of the year.

Eala earned her place in the third round of the Cincinnati Open in the United States following a walkover win over Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse, 6-1, 3-0, in the round of 64 on Saturday, August 15 (Sunday, August 16, Manila time).

Ruse retired during the weather suspension midway through the second set, paving the way for Eala to arrange a first-time clash with American world No. 10 Amanda Anisimova in the round of 32.

But even with Ruse pulling out, the Filipina world No. 20 looked on her way to an overwhelming victory as she won nine consecutive games after trailing 0-1 to open the match.

Organizers then suspended play due to the overcast conditions, and after some time, Ruse retired.

With the win, Eala leveled her head-to-head record with Ruse to 1-1 after she lost their first WTA Tour encounter, where she absorbed a three-set defeat in the third qualifying round of the 2024 US Open.

That loss denied Eala what would have been her first main draw appearance in a Grand Slam.

Eala, though, has made huge strides since, and it showed in her drubbing of Ruse and in her impressive form in this hard-court swing.

She captured her first-ever Tour title by ruling the WTA 500 Washington Open and put together a respectable run to the fourth round of the WTA 1000 Canadian Open, where she lost to former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.

Eala then earned the 17th seed in Cincinnati — her highest in a WTA 1000 tournament — and received a first-round bye.

After a rousing Cincinnati debut, Eala will have her mettle tested as she battles her 10th top-10 opponent this year in Anisimova, who posted a convincing 6-2, 6-3 victory over Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez in the previous round. – Rappler.com