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| Alex Eala defeated a Croatian opponent for the second straight time in Auckland. |
MANILA--Alex Eala made quick work of Petra Marcinko to score a 6-0, 6-2 win in their ASB Classic women's singles round of 16 affair on Thursday at the ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland.
In her second consecutive match against a Croatian opponent, Eala gave Marcinko, who is on a roll after opening the year at a career-high rank of 82 in the WTA, a reality check after blanking her in the first set.
Marcinko finally got on the board in Set 2, but Eala, ranked 53rd in the world, was still just too much.
Eala showed her much improved receiving power by going 6-for-6 in break points.
Eala, seeded fourth in the women's singles, will play the winner of the match between fifth-seeded Magda Linette and Elisabeta Cocciaretto in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Linette and Cocciaretto are battling each other as of posting.
Meanwhile, Eala, along with Iva Jovic, got a free ride to the women's doubles semifinals after the pair of Jesika Maleckova and Reneta Zarazua decided not to push through.
Maleckova and Zarazua stunned the top-seeded pair of Asia Muhammad and Erin Routliffe, 3-6, 6-2, 12-10, on Tuesday, but for undisclosed reasons, they decided to beg off from there.
Eala and Jovic will meet the Chinese duo of Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan on Friday.
