Tennis: Alex Eala marches past Australia’s Jones to 2nd round in Hong Kong
Filipina tennis star Alex Eala plays China’s Wang Xiyu in the semifinals of women’s singles in the 2026 Asian Games at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya on October 1, 2026. POC Media/File MANILA (UPDATED) — Filipina tennis star Alex Eala shrugged off a late change in opponents to advance to the second round of the Hong Kong Tennis Open on Tuesday night in Victoria Park.
Eala battled past Australian lucky loser Emerson Jones, 6-4, 6-3, to progress to the last 16 in her last tournament of the year.
Second-seeded Eala was supposed to play a familiar foe in Alycia Parks in the first round, but the American withdrew due to a shoulder injury. World no. 132 Jones, who lost in the qualifiers to Alexandra Shubladze, stepped in to take her place.
Eala, who is now ranked 17th in the world, won the first four games before the 18-year-old Jones found her form. A break of Eala’s serve got the Australian on board, and Jones won the next two games to threaten at 4-3.
Eala broke back for 5-3 before Jones stunned the Filipina again to stay in the match, 5-4. But Eala showed great grit in battling back from down 40-15 in the tenth game and forcing Jones into errors to finally take the opener.
The Filipina was challenged again in the second after surging to a 5-1 lead. Serving for the match, Eala committed back-to-back double faults and then fired a couple of wayward shots that kept Jones in the hunt.
The Australian then held comfortably for a 5-3 count, with Eala badly misfiring on her backhand.
With a second chance to serve for the match, Eala regrouped and surged to a 40-15 lead. Jones saved one match point when Eala dumped her shot into the net, but the Australian’s next return was off the mark and Eala’s clutch hold sent her to the last 16.