Eala rebounds with lopsided win in Tokyo

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala made short work of Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain, 6-1, 6-2, to roll into the WTA500 Toray Pan Pacific Round of 16 yesterday at the Ariake Tennis Forest Park in Tokyo, Japan.

The 21-year-old Pinay power, who returned as world No. 19 from No. 20, needed only 75 minutes to bag the easy first-round win against the way lower-ranked and wildcard British, who slid from No. 308 to No. 411 in the latest WTA rankings released yesterday.

The eighth-seeded Eala will next face WTA No. 38 Talia Gibson of Australia, 6-0, 7-5 winner over compatriot Daria Kasatkina.

“I think it was super important today to be focused on every single point. Playing against Mika for the first time was a great experience and I’m sure we will meet many, many more times. I think she has a really good level and I’ll see her many more times on tour,” said Eala.

Eala never lost a serve in the methodical win, serving as a rebound of sorts after upset losses in Singapore, Wuhan and in the Asian Games in Nagoya.

She suffered those losses against unheralded foes in the past month, bowing as the No. 3 seed against No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova of Russia in the WTA500 Singapore Open Round of 16 and taking a Round 1 exit as the No. 13 seed in the WTA1000 Wuhan Open with a loss to No. 217 Han Shi of China.

As the No. 1 seed in the 20th Asian Games, Eala also fell to the No. 85 Xiyu Wang of China to blow a  shot at gold without the top guns in the continental tourney led by world No. 1 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, reigning champion and Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen of China and No. 18 Naomi Osaka of Japan.

Eala’s 7-5, 6-4 loss to world No. 13 and No. 6 seed Diana Shnaider of Russia in the WTA500 Ningbo Open in China last week was her only defeat against a higher-ranked opponent in the last four tournaments.

And she wouldn’t allow another stunner, especially against an adversary outside the Top 400 rankings.

The lefty ace was supposed to play in the Tokyo doubles as well with Filipina-American star Desirae Krawczyk but pulled out in the last minute.