Alex Eala goes down fighting against No. 2 Rybakina in Italian Open

Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina had to flex her world number 2 tennis muscles to defeat the hard-hitting Alex Eala in straight sets in the Italian Open’s round of 32, 6-4, 6-3.

Rybakina’s win was no walk in the park as the world number 42 Eala kept the scores close, fighting for each point and even led 2-1 in the second set.

The match was the first meeting of Rybakina and Eala, with the Russia-born Kazakh fresh from winning the Stuttgart Open in April and the Australian Open in January.

Eala has so far achieved her best performance in clay by reaching the third round of the Italian Open.