Alex Eala kept her perfect North American hard-court run intact on Wednesday with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Alycia Parks in the second round of the National Bank Open in Toronto, moving to 6-0 on the swing and setting up a third-round meeting with Catherine McNally.
The win extended a stretch that began with five consecutive victories culminating in the DC Open title in Washington, D.C. last week, and it also served as a direct rematch of a defeat she suffered to Parks in the first round of this year’s Australian Open, where Parks won 6-0, 3-6, 2-6. The reversal was total. Eala claimed the first set in just 31 minutes and never looked seriously threatened in the third.
A large contingent of Filipino fans supporting Eala filled sections of the crowd and waved flags throughout the match, and she addressed them directly in her post-match remarks, expressing how much their weekly support means to her and how proud she is to represent the Philippines. She described her experience in front of those crowds as among the greatest pleasures of her tennis life.
How the match unfolded
The opening set was over quickly. Both players held their opening service games before she broke in the fourth, using aggressive returning to draw errors from Parks. She consolidated immediately and then broke again in the sixth game before serving out the set. Parks served four aces but could not back up her delivery from the baseline, finishing with 18 unforced errors to seven.
The second set was a different story. Parks was sharper and both players held serve through the first nine games as the match appeared to be heading toward a tiebreak. Parks finally broke through in the tenth game and served out the set, forcing a decider.
She re-established control in the third set quickly, breaking in the first game and building a 2-0 lead. Parks responded to break back and level the set at 2-2, but the Filipino raised her intensity on return and broke twice more to close out the victory.
What the 6-0 swing record means
Eala entered this stretch of the season as the No. 25 seed following her Washington title, a ranking that reflects how rapidly she has developed over the past year. The DC Open win was the centerpiece of the run, but the consistency across six matches, on hard courts against opponents of varying styles, is the more instructive indicator of her current form.
Her match against Parks showcased what has made her hard to play against in this period. She limits unforced errors while extending rallies, uses deep returning to put pressure on opponents’ service games, and adjusts quickly when a player starts to assert themselves, as Parks did in the second set. The ability to regain control after Parks broke back at 2-2 reflected a maturity that has become more visible in her recent results.
What comes next
Eala’s third-round opponent, Catherine McNally, reached the round of 16 with a 7-6, 6-1 upset over Wimbledon champion and sixth seed Linda Noskova. McNally is an experienced American player with significant hard-court pedigree, and the match will test her form against a player who has beaten top-seeded opponents before.
A win over McNally would put Eala in the round of 16 at a WTA 1000 tournament less than two weeks before the US Open begins. For a player building toward a breakthrough at a major, the timing and the level of competition she has been facing are precisely the preparation that coaches and players look for heading into Flushing Meadows.
Eala’s six wins without a loss since the hard-court swing began suggest she is playing the best tennis of her career at the right moment.
