Alex Eala books spot in Cincinnati Open third round after Elena-Gabriela Ruse retirement
Alex Eala is moving on at the Cincinnati Open after her second-round opponent Elena-Gabriela Ruse retired mid-match due to an apparent injury.
The Filipina tennis star was ahead 6-1, 3-0 in their Round of 64 match on Saturday at the Lindner Family Tennis Center when Ruse ended the contest due to suffering from an injury on her right foot.
The victory now sends Eala into the Round of 32 of her first WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open campaign.
The Romanian tennis player had previously defeated Eala back when they faced off in the 2024 US Open Qualifiers. Ruse had rallied past Eala, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, to deny the Filipina a spot in the Grand Slam's main draw.
With her win, Eala is now set to face either Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez or Amanda Anisimova of the US.
Asked what would make her Cincinnati week a success, she said, “I think it's just the level that I play. And of course, the more matches, the merrier, right? But it's the matches of substance, and it's the ones that—did I execute what I want to execute? Did I bring the level that I wanted to bring? So if I lose first round, but it's a really good match, not to say that it's a successful week, but it wasn't a bad one. And if I reached the final, then I'll take that too."
The Filipina recently won her first-ever WTA singles title at the Mubadala DC Open. Following this, she has continued to build momentum on the hard court, reaching the fourth round of the Canadian Open before her campaign came to an end.
The Cincinnati Open will run from Aug. 13 to 23.
