 |
| Himeno Sakatsume will meet Alex Eala again, but this time, she is on the away side. Richard Esguerra |
MANILA—Himeno Sakatsume earned a shot at taking on Alex Eala again after beating fellow Japanese Nao Hibino, 6-3, 7-5, in their first-round clash of the Philippine Women's Open on Tuesday night at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Sakatsume pulled away late into Set 1 to seize control of her match before braving a gallant fight from Hibino in Set 2 to secure the sweep.
Sakatsume and Eala last faced off during the Japan Open in December 2023, where Sakatsume, with the crowd on her side, shocked Eala, 6-0, 6-3, despite the latter actually having better stats.
However, it will be the exact opposite this time as Eala will once again play in front of an expected sold-out crowd on Wednesday night.
Sakatsume is also expecting a fiercer Eala, who zoomed to the Top 50 in a span of 25 months from their previous showdown.
"She changed her play. She is more aggressive than before," Sakatsume said.
Meanwhile, Donna Vekic and Tatjana Maria, arguably the two highly-touted international stars in the WTA 125 event, won their Round of 32 match-ups.
Maria, the top seed in the competition, edged Leoila Jeanjean, 7-6, 6-4, while Vekic turned back Kyoka Okamura, 6-2, 6-2.
