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| Alex Eala was successful in her first match back in the Miami Open. Richard Esguerra (file photo) |
MANILA--Despite losing steam late in Set 1, Alex Eala still had a triumphant return to the Miami Open, the tournament where her rise to stardom began last year, after beating German opponent Laura Siegemund, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-3, in their second round encounter early Friday (Philippine Time).
Getting a first-round bye after jumping inside the Top 32 in the WTA rankings, the world number 29 Eala looked to be on cruise for a dominating Set 1 when she raced to a 3-0 lead, but Siegemund fought back and took the next three games to force a 3-all tie.
Both players just went back and forth later in the set to force the tiebreak, but Eala succumbed after Siegemund broke a 6-all tie with back-to-back points to steal the set.
Eala asserted control of Set 2 when she broke Siegemund's serve to go 3-1 up, and she eventually closed out the set after winning back-to-back games after going 4-3 ahead.
Similarly, Eala took an early 3-1 lead in the deciding set and never looked back from there.
Eala once again banked on a solid receiving game, winning 45 points when she was not on the serve against 30 from Siegemund.
Eala also converted five break points against two from Siegemund, both coming from the mid-Set 1 comeback.
Despite being slightly behind on service points won (53-58), Eala won more service games than Siegemund, 13-10.
