(DC file photo)
Entering the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 250 Prudential Hong Kong Open as the second seed, Filipina tennis ace Alexandra ‘Alex’ Eala is set to battle it out with dangerous Alycia Michelle Parks of the United States for the third time.
The two rivals were pitted against each other in yesterday’s draw ceremony. They are tied 1-1 head-to-head as both have registered wins against each other on different occasions.
Parks, ranked number 65, won over the country’s pride in their first meeting at the Australian Open first round, 0–6, 6–3, 6–2, last January.
On the other hand, Eala, ranked number 19, got back at the 25-year-old American at the Toronto Open second round, 6–1, 4–6, 6–2, last August.
Parks will bank on her aggressive play and her strong two-handed backhand as she tries to make a repeat victory over her Filipina opponent.
In the Australian Open, where she topped Eala in a three-set thriller, the American netter noted that she was initially rattled and lost the first-set bagel due to the “crazy” and energetic pro-Eala crowd at Melbourne Park’s Court 6, but she managed to refocus, increase her aggression and rely on her big serve to pull through.
In the meantime, Eala will be among the favorites for the title in Hong Kong and in an interview after her early exit from the Ningbo Open, she expressed she was not in the mood to look back on her achievements yet.
But she quickly added: “I’m super excited and I’m going in with high motivation. I’m trying to put my reflections off for one more week because of said motivation. Check back in a week.”
