Toronto, Aug 6 (IANS) Overnight sensation Alexandra Eala, who was fresh off her first WTA title in Washington, advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win over No. 25 seed Alycia Parks.

Making her debut at the Canadian Open in front of an electric packed stadium, Eala became the first Filipino player, male or female, to win a main-draw match at the tournament.

The victory was Eala's sixth in seven opening-round matches at WTA 1000 events this season, with her only defeat coming against Tereza Valentova in Doha. It also marked her 17th career WTA 1000 match win and her 11th at that level in 2025.

She also improved to 10-4 in three-set matches at tour level this season and extended her streak to 10 consecutive wins when claiming the opening set.

Eala dominated the opening set, reeling off five consecutive games from 1-1 to take it 6-1. She did not face a break point on serve during the set and consistently pressured Parks from the baseline.

Parks responded in the second set. After surviving two difficult service games early, the American saved four break points to hold for a 3-2 lead. She then broke in the 10th game to claim the set 6-4 and force a decider, WTA reports.

After the players traded early breaks in the third set, Eala secured the decisive break in the fifth game to move ahead 3-2. She maintained control from there, winning the next three games to complete the victory in 1 hour, 51 minutes.

Eala will next face American Caty McNally, which will be the pairs first career meeting.

Elsewhere, Leylah Annie Fernandez cruised into the third round after beating Renata Zarazua 6-2, 6-2 in front of a raucous home crowd on Centre Court at Sobey’s Stadium.

It was a routine victory for the world No. 34, as she only faced two break points and pressured Zarazua’s serve enough to earn five breaks in the straight-sets victory.

The 23-year-old Fernandez will now advance to battle fifth seed Mirra Andreeva in the third round. Andreeva is coming off a straight-sets win over Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday.

--IANS

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