By REYNALD MAGALLON
Alex Eala continued her buildup for the 2025 Wimbledon Classic, taking down Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, 6-1, 6-3, in the opening round of the WTA 250 Lexus Eastbourne Open qualifiers on Saturday, June 22.
The 20-year-old Filipina banked on a scintillating start that saw her almost blank Sonmez in the opening set before shrugging off any form of resistance in the second to pick up the victory and advance to the second round.
The world rated No.77 proved too much for the No.82 Turkish as Sonmez struggled against Eala’s strong forehands, limiting her to just one game in the first set.
Sonmez did show some semblance of fight in the second set when she cut Eala’s once 4-1 lead to 4-3. The Filipina tennis sensation, however, easily restored order and cruised to the win that only lasted for 72 minutes.
It was Eala’s second victory over Sonmez after the two crossed paths at the W60 Nantes in France back in 2023. Eala came away with the victory, 7-6(5), 6-4.
With the win, Eala has set up a clash against world No. 56 Hailey Baptiste on Sunday night with a spot to the main draw at stake.
The American Baptiste advanced to the next round after taking down China’s Yuan Yun, 7-5, 6-3.
