Alex Eala advances in Toronto, avenging Australian Open loss to Parks

Alexandra Eala won her opening match, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, in the second round of the National Bank Open in Toronto on Wednesday night, August 5.

She defeated Alycia Parks, 25, and avenged her loss to the American, who caused her first-round exit in this year’s Australian Open last January.

In the third round, Eala will face another American, Caty McNally, who defeated Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova in straight sets.

READ ALSO: Senate resolution honors Alex Eala for historic WTA Tour title

This was the 21-year-old Eala’s first match as WTA No. 20 and it began barely 48 hours after she won her first WTA tour-level title in Washington DC last August 3. Parks, 25, is currently WTA No. 71 in singles.

Alex Eala in Toronto: Doubles campaign with Venus Williams

Eala’s next match in Toronto will be in doubles, where she will pair up with Venus Williams for the second time this year. They will face Miyu Kato of Japan and Liudmila Samsonova of Russia.

Also through to the third round in women’s singles are Leylah Fernandez, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Mirra Andreeva, Shuai Zhang, Talia Gibson, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Elina Svitolina, Anastasia Potapova, Nikola Bartunkova, Amanda Anisimova, Iva Jovic, and Jessica Pegula, among others.

READ MORE, TENNIS FANS: Alex Eala Tracker 2026: Matches, News, Rankings

Playing at Centre Court in front of a full-capacity crowd, Eala struck first, breaking Parks’ second service game to take a 3-1 lead.

Alycia Parks took the second set against Alexandra Eala

She faced some pressure on her next service game, with Parks getting to deuce once. But the Filipina held serve for a 4-1 lead in the first 19 minutes.

Eala then followed up with a second break of serve, taking a 5-1 lead and getting her first chance to serve for the set. She needed just 30 minutes to win the first set, sealing it with a forehand winner.

They were both on serve in the second set until Eala’s fifth service game. A power-serving Parks broke that to take the second set, 6-4. At that point, they had played for one hour and 20 minutes.

Eala had four break point opportunities in the second set, compared to one for Parks, but the American saved all four and converted her lone opportunity to force a deciding set.

Now 1-1 in head-to-head matches with Alycia Parks

Eala immediately broke Parks’ first service game in the third set and held serve, taking a 2-0 lead. The American caught up by holding her next serve and breaking Eala’s second service game, pushing the score to 2-all.

The Filipina had three break point opportunities on Parks’ next serve and converted one, then held serve, taking the lead again, 4-2.

She earned a double break of serve, pushing the score to 5-2, and served for the match. She raced to a 40-love lead and won the match in one hour and 51 minutes.

The last time they met, Parks defeated Eala in the Australian Open’s first round in January 2026. Eala took the first set, 6-0, but Parks won the next two, 6-3, 6-2.

Before their match in Toronto, Parks served 171 aces so far this year, almost thrice as many as Eala’s 61 aces. But they were just about even when it came to service games won, at 67%.

Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.