Alex Eala admitted she was “super happy” with her performance in her opening win against Emerson Jones at the Hong Kong Open.
Eala raced into a 4-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes in their round of 32 clash but the 18-year-old broke back to reduce her arrears.
The 21-year-old, who had the lion’s share of support from the crowd, eventually got over the line to take the opener 6-4 in 47 minutes against the world No 132.
Just the one break was needed in the second set as Eala closed out a 6-4, 6-3 victory in one hour, 23 minutes on Tuesday, with the second seed set to face Tereza Valentova in the next round.
Following the win, the Filipina thanked those in the stands for their amazing support and sent a classy message to the young Australian.
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“Yes, super happy to be here in Hong Kong,” she said in her on-court interview. “Super happy with the performance, super happy to be here in front of all you guys again.
“It was a really good match. Emerson is such a sweetheart off the court and such a great player on it, so looking forward to many more matches together in the future.
“I cannot say enough how much I enjoy playing in front of you guys. There are few places in the world that would be better to cap off the season, this amazing season, than here in Hong Kong, very close to home.”
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