WORLD No. 77 Alex Eala continues to impress at the WTA 125 Ilkley Open, breezing past Switzerland’s Valentine Ryser with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win in their Round of 16 clash in Great Britain.
After enduring a series of early exits in recent tournaments that led to a dip in her WTA ranking, Eala is steadily regaining her rhythm and confidence—clearly shown in her commanding performance.
In her Round of 32 encounter with Lizette Cabrera, the young Filipina outlasted the Australian in a tense opening set, 7-6, and rode that momentum to close out the match with a 6-3 second-set win.
Strong Start
Eala came out firing, landing 78% of her first serves in the opening set. After splitting the first two games, she took charge with a flurry of baseline winners and drew several unforced errors from Ryser.
Although the Swiss player earned break point chances toward the end of the set, Eala held her nerve and finished the set decisively, 6-1.
The second set featured a tighter start, with both players exchanging service breaks in the first four games to level the score at 2-all.
Ryser looked ready to hold serve at 40-30 in game five, but a crucial unforced error gave Eala the opening she needed. The Filipina capitalized, stepping up her aggression to break and lead 3-2.
From there, Eala dictated the pace with consistent, powerful groundstrokes, stretching her lead to 4-2. Ryser had one last opportunity to stay in the match, but Eala shut the door.
The 19-year-old served out the match in style to secure a 6-2 second set. The win sends her to the quarterfinals as she continues her push to make a deeper run on grass.
Tougher Test
Now standing between Eala and a place in the semifinals is Canada’s Rebecca Marino, the tournament’s eighth seed and defending champion.
The Filipina standout is set for perhaps her toughest match so far—a quarterfinal clash with Marino at 6:00 p.m. (PH time) today, June 13.
Despite the challenge ahead, the 20-year-old left-hander has yet to drop a set in Ilkley and looks sharp in just her second grass-court tournament this year, after an early Birmingham Classic exit.
Marino, a 34-year-old veteran and former World No. 38, lifted the Ilkley trophy last year—her first WTA grass-court title—after rallying past France’s Jessika Ponchet, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Now seeded eighth, Marino showed her toughness again by coming back to defeat British wild card Emily Appleton, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, in their Round of 16 meeting.
This marks the first career matchup between Eala and Marino, with the winner advancing to face either Great Britain’s Amarni Banks or Swiss teen Celine Naef in the semifinals.
