By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
In a duel between lefties who hold a special place in the heart of the Filipinos, it was Fil-Canadian Leylah Fernandez who emerged victorious.
While Filipina ace Alex Eala did her all, she simply was no match to Fernandez – at least at this moment – absorbing a 1-6, 4-6 in the opening round on Wednesday, April 15, in Stuttgart, Germany.
The 25th-ranked Fernandez proved steadier and more aggressive, using her vast wealth of experience to destroy Eala brick by brick.
Eala, ranked No. 45 in the world, got off to a sluggish start as Fernandez, a 2021 US Open finalist, dictated the tempo early with sharp hitting to race to a 5-0 lead.
The Filipina managed to get on the board by holding her serve at 5-1, but couldn’t build on it as Fernandez closed out the set in the following game.
Showing her range, Fernandez seized control early in the second set, breaking Eala twice to build a 5-2 lead.
The Filipina, however, refused to fade into night as she finally found her rhythm and finally broke Fernandez in the eighth game before taking the next to trim the deficit to 4-5.
But Fernandez quickly regained control, holding serve to close out the match in one hour and 28 minutes.
