World No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan admitted that going up against Alex Eala was no easy task despite posting a 6-4, 6-3 victory in the Round of 32 of the Italian Open in Rome last Sunday.
Rybakina, 26, said she had a hard time beating the 20-year-old Eala due to her impressive use of her left hand.
Eala, currently ranked at No. 42, is currently playing in the women’s doubles alongside No. 25 Hailey Baptiste of the United States in the Last 32 of the women’s doubles against No. 39 Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and No. 96 and American Taylor Townsend as of press time.
“It’s nice to win in straight sets and it’s better than the previous tournament and today was tough conditions. It was raining before, so it was very slow and the balls were heavy, but I’m happy that I managed to win,” said Rybakina, the reigning Australian Open champion.
“We played with Alex for the first time against each other and it’s always challenging to play against a lefty, but overall I’m happy with everything I did on the court.”
While Eala wasn’t able to get past Rybakina in this Women’s Tennis Association 1000 tournament, it was her best performance so far in clay courts this year.
Now, the Filipina is set to continues her momentum with the hopes of finding her rhythm for the French Open in Paris from 18 May to 7 June.
“I don’t think it was an easy win for her so yeah, of course, there are things to work on and learnings from this match. But I think I’m heading in a good direction,” Eala sent.