Eala braces for Japanese assault

Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala finds herself ramming against a crack Japanese foe in the Round of 16 of Mumbai Open in India this Wednesday.

Eala, 19, is waiting for the winner between Nao Hibino and Mai Hontama, who are competing in the Round of 32 at press time.

The Rafael Nadal Academy is coming off a convincing 6-1, 6-0 win over Sara Saito to kick off her campaign.

Hibino currently sits at No. 106 in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings while Hontama is at No. 166, leaving Eala with a tough challenge if she wants to make it in the quarterfinal.

Apart from her singles campaign, Eala is also slated to join forces with Tsao Chia Yi of Taiwan in the women’s doubles, where they will face the Russian pair of Elena Pridankina and Amina Anshba in the Last 16.

The last time Eala won both a singles and doubles trophy was back in July after she dominated the W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain.

There, Eala defeated Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva, 6-4, 6-4 in the final for the women’s singles crown.

Then, the two-time Asian Games bronze medalist teamed up with Estelle Cascino of France to take down Lucija Ciric Bagaric of Croatia and Sofia Costoulas of Belgium, 6-3, 2-6, 10-4, to complete the golden double.