Filipina tennis star Alex Eala battled through weather delays and a gritty opponent to secure a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa in the Round of 32 at the Suzhou Open WTA 125 on Tuesday in China.
Eala, who was coming off a semifinal finish at the Jingshan Open, displayed nerves of steel despite a nearly three-hour rain interruption in the opening set. The match was halted with the score tied at 2-all, but the 19-year-old remained composed and returned to the court with focus, claiming four of the next five games to seal the first set, 6-3.
However, the seasoned Kawa, ranked World No. 124, bounced back strongly in the second set. She quickly built a 5-2 lead, pressuring Eala with aggressive baseline play. Eala managed to hold serve and narrow the gap to 5-3, but another brief rain delay paused the match yet again. When play resumed, a double fault from Eala handed the set to Kawa, forcing a decider.
In the final set, momentum swung back and forth. Eala surged ahead 3-1, but Kawa responded with a flurry of clean winners to take a 4-3 advantage. Undeterred, Eala capitalized on a series of unforced errors by the 32-year-old Pole to win two straight games and edge ahead 5-4.
Kawa dominated Game 10 to level the score, but more attack errors in the following game gave Eala the break and a chance to serve for the match at 6-5. In a tense final game, Kawa fought back to deuce, but consecutive mishits handed Eala the match — and a spot in the Round of 16.
The win sets up a high-stakes clash with Germany’s Greet Minnen, as Eala continues her strong run in back-to-back tournaments on Chinese soil.
The Suzhou Open marks Eala’s second straight campaign in China, following her impressive semifinal appearance last week in Jingshan — a sign that the rising Filipina ace is hitting her stride late in the season.
