Eala powers into Canadian Open third round after beating Parks

Fresh off winning the biggest title of her career, Alex Eala carried her momentum into the WTA 1000 Canadian Open, defeating American Alycia Parks, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, on Thursday (Manila time) at Sobeys Stadium in Toronto.

The 25th-seeded Filipina bounced back from a second-set setback to secure a place in the Round of 32 just two days after capturing her maiden WTA singles title at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, D.C.

The victory also avenged Eala's opening-round loss to Parks at the Australian Open in January, where the American rallied after dropping the opening set.

After receiving a first-round bye, Eala made an impressive tournament debut by dictating long rallies and forcing Parks into a string of unforced errors. Despite four aces from the American, the Filipina broke serve repeatedly to cruise to a 6-1 opening-set victory in just 31 minutes.

Parks responded in the second set, relying on her powerful serve to stay level before earning her first break of the match at 4-4. She then held serve to level the contest at one set apiece.

Eala regained control early in the deciding set by breaking in the opening game. Although Parks recovered from a 0-2 deficit to tie the score at 2-2, the Filipina answered with another service break before reeling off the final four games to wrap up the victory in just under two hours.

The win sends Eala into the third round, where she will face another American, Caty McNally.

McNally, ranked World No. 70, advanced after defeating Czech standout Linda Noskova, 7-6(5), 6-1.

Before returning to singles competition, Eala will also begin her doubles campaign on Friday alongside seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams against Japan's Miyu Kato and Russia's Liudmila Samsonova.