Alex Eala sweeps Wang Xinyu, reaches Italian Open third round

Alexandra "Alex" Eala swept Wang Xinyu, 6-4, 6-3, in the Round of 64 of the Italian Open on Friday to advance to the third round of the tournament.

The victory marks Eala’s first appearance in the third round of a clay-court tournament since last year’s Miami Open after suffering a series of early exits on clay following her breakthrough into the WTA Top 100.

Wang raced to an early 3-0 lead in the opening set before Eala responded by winning four straight games to seize control. Wang briefly stopped the momentum, but the Filipina ace regrouped and closed out the set.

In the second set, Wang again took an early edge at 3-2 before Eala dominated the next four games to secure the straight-sets victory.

Eala will next face the winner of the match between world No. 2 Elena Rybakina and Maria Sakkari.

—JKC, GMA News