Alex Eala gives fitness update after rolling ankle as she reveals ‘high hopes’

Alex Eala admits she “doesn’t know what happened” when she injured her ankle during her third-round match against Caty McNally at the Canadian Open.

The world No 20 was one set and a break up midway during the second set when she called for the physio to receive treatment on her right ankle and McNally broke her to love in the next game to get back on serve.

After both held serve, they traded another couple of breaks before the American again broke to love in game 12 and this time it was crucial as it gave her the set.

There were fears that the ankle injury was hampering Eala, but she broke in the opening game of the decider before serving out the match for a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory and a place in the fourth round.

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During her post-match press conference, the 21-year-old was asked if it was a concern, but replied: “I kind of rolled my ankle in that second set. Like, I hit the forehand and I landed kind of wrong. I called the physio.

“I think I was a little, I was like, Oh, I don’t know what happened, because it happened so fast. But luckily, there’s nothing wrong with it, and it was no serious problems.

“But, I mean, yeah, today was physically, it pushed me a lot. I have a lot of matches in the bag. But that goes for good and bad. I think this is also a learning process. We’re athletes. So that kind of physical is, you know, it’s like a huge part of our job.

“I think I have a great team who is going to help me recover, and I have high hopes for the rest of the tournament.”

Eala, of course, is high on confidence as she is fresh off winning her maiden title after beating Jessica Pegula in the rain-delayed Washington DC Open final on Monday.

The Filipina has played seven matches in the space of two weeks – five in Washington and two so far Montreal – and she is starting to “feel the effects”, especially with everyone wanting a piece of tennis’ rising star.

“I think this match was really challenging for me. I think the whole two weeks, I guess, have been very challenging. Each match that I’ve played has presented its unique set of challenges,” Eala said.

“Today, obviously it was really close. I think, you know, like, I’m really, of course I’m feeling the effects of just everything.

“I think I’m really doing my best, like I said on court, to stay professional and stick to what I know. But everything, of course, like, these past two weeks I’ve been feeling emotions so extremely because of the circumstances, which is a great thing.

“I think I’m quite a sentimental person. But at the same time it’s just kind of like finding that balance. So, I think I’m really proud of how I handled today, and what I did on court.”

There is good news for Eala as she will have Saturday off as her next match, the round of 16 encounter against 12th seed Belinda Bencic, is scheduled for Sunday.

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