Eala shuts down Parks to advance in Canadian Open
MANILA, Philippines — It took her three sets, but Alex Eala is off to the next round of the 2026 Canadian Open.
Eala, fresh off a breakthrough title in the WTA tour, outlasted American Alycia Parks, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, Thursday morning (Manila time) in Toronto.
Just a couple of days after hoisting the Mubadala DC Open title, Eala had a great start Thursday. But she met resistance from the World No. 71 tennister in the second set before finding her groove just in time to grab the win.
The Filipina, ranked 20th in the world, yielded only one game in the first set as she looked confident as ever.
But in the second set, the two tennisters traded games. While Eala held her serve in the eighth game to tie things up at 4-all, Parks finished off the set and forced the decider with back-to-back games.
In the third set, the Filipina won the first two games before her opponent forced the set back to square one, 2-all.
Eala then returned to her dangerous form, winning game after game.
With Eala serving, she blanked Parks in the eighth game, finishing off the match with a beautiful swing that the American could not return inbounds.
Now, the Filipina star will be taking on Caty McNally in the next round. The American, ranked 70th in the world, swept World No. 7 Linda Noskova, 7-6(5), 6-1 in their clash.
Last year, Eala suffered an early exit from the tournament after falling against Marketa Vondrousova in three sets.
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