Nine games in a row
Claire Liu walked into the Hong Kong Open final ranked 102nd and walked out a champion. The 26-year-old Californian beat second seed Alexandra Eala 6-3, 6-0 earlier today, and it took her 93 minutes.
The first set looked even. Both players traded breaks early, and Eala was broken again while serving at 4-3. Liu used that opening to win three straight games and take the opener. Then the match tilted for good.
The second set began with a game that went to deuce 11 times. Liu won it, and Eala never recovered. By the end Liu had reeled off nine consecutive games, five service breaks in total shaping the afternoon.
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What it means for Eala
Eala, 21, still takes something out of the week. She will climb to No. 15 when the new rankings are released. The Filipino has one tour title, won in Washington in August, and the loss leaves her 1-2 in WTA finals.
For Liu, the result is a long time coming. She had never lifted a tour-level trophy before this week, and she did it by beating the highest seed left in the draw without dropping a game after the opening set.
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