Eala, Rivera win doubles opener

MANILA, Philippines — So far so good for the Philippine tennisters.

Taking the cue from the other doubles teams, Alex Eala and Shaira Hope Rivera took care of their business with an easy 6-1, 6-3 first-round win over Hong Kong’s Lai Ching Laam and Kallista Liu in the Asian Games yesterday at the Indoor Court B of the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Japan.

World No. 18 Eala and Rivera - first-time doubles teammates – lost the first game but were quick to find their groove and secure the straight-set victory that sent them to a duel with the third- seeded pair of Xinyu Jiang and Zhaoxuan Yang of China.

The Eala-Rivera tandem served out for the win with a love game capped by Rivera’s jumping smash at the net as they put on a 4-1 finishing run from a 2-2 deadlock.

They mirrored the earlier wins of Rivera and Niño Alcantara in mixed doubles as well as Stefi Aludo and Tenny Madis in the other side of the women’s doubles, keeping the Team Philippines’ medal bid alive and kicking.

The Rivera-Alcantara pair escaped with a 6-4, 1-6, 10-8 Round 1 win over Iran’s Meshkatolzahra Safi and Kasra Rahmani while the Aludo-Madis tandem drubbed Indonesia’s Anjali Junarto and Meydiana Reinnamah, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Eala shoots for the first haul – at least a bronze – as she returns to singles action today in the quarterfinals against WTA No. 143 Joanna Garland of Chinese Taipei.