Fan favorite Alexandra Eala overcame a spirited challenge by Australian teenager Emerson Jones 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open.
Cheered on by her passionate Filipino fans, Eala was 4-0 up after only 16 minutes before running into trouble against the 18-year-old Jones, a qualifier who only got her opportunity after American Alycia Parks withdrew from the tournament at the Victoria Park tennis Centre with a shoulder injury.
Settling down after a shaky start, and showing her tenacity, Jones swept the next three games to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Although second-seeded Eala went on to take the first set, Jones made sure the world number 17 had to work for the points for the rest of the one-hour, 23-minute match.
Top seed Sorana Cirstea needed three sets to defeat Uzbekistan’s Maria Timofeeva and reach the next round. The 36-year-old Romanian overcame a second-set wobble as she survived a dogfight with a determined Timofeeva to pull off a 7-6 (8/6), 1-6, 7-5 win.
Australian fifth seed Talia Gibson also advanced, beating Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova 7-6 (7/5), 6-1. Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez defeated former Hong Kong winner Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine 6-4, 6-2.
In an all-Australian showdown Maya Joint beat Maddison Inglis 7-5, 6-2.
In doubles, Hong Kong’s Cody Wong Hong-yi and China’s Jiang Xinyu beat the third-seeded Ingrid Neel of Estonia and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico 6-4, 7-5.
