The grinded tandem of Maleckova-Zarazua withdraws
NO mercy for the Philippine juggernaut with two wins in its first game of the season.
Alexandra “Alex” Eala stamped her class on up-and-comer Petra Marcinko of Croatia, 6-0, 6-2, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2026 ASB Classic singles on Thursday at the ASB Tennis Center in Auckland, New Zealand.
Behind the Filipino crowd, WTA No. 53 and No. 4 seed Ms. Eala didn’t apologize right off the bat for retiring the former Junior No. 1 in the opening frame and quickly erased a 1-2 deficit in the second with a 5-0 shutout for an easy victory.
Her professional singles division saw her win two Ms. Eala, earned a walkover earlier in the day in the doubles quarterfinals with fellow American Iva Jovic following the elimination of the painful tandem of Jesika Maleckova of Czechia (WTA No. 72) and Renata Zarazua of Mexico (WTA No. 84).
Mrs. Eala and WTA No. 35 Ms. Jovic, who surprised the WTA No. 13 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine again called Venus Williams of the United States in the first round, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1, they will face the third seed Yifan Xu of China, WTA No. 40 oxuan, WTA No. On Saturday.
The Chinese duo won 6-4, 1-6, 10-5 over Isabelle Haverlag from the Netherlands and Maia Lumsden from Great Britain.
But what stood out was his methodical clinic in singles as Mrs. The 20-year-old Eala, a former world No. 2, needed just 63 minutes to secure a Round of 16 victory against WTA No. 82 Ms. Marcinko, also 20 years old.
It was a far cry from her marathon opener, needing two hours and 40 minutes to overtake another Croatian at WTA No. 69 Donna Vekic, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
“I feel amazing. I am very happy with the way I was able to finish and handle different situations on the court. It is not easy to play Petra (Marcinko). It is obvious that she is a top player and she was doing very well. I am happy with the way I played and the way I handled it,” said Ms. Eala.
Mrs. Eala, in his first tournament of the season after a successful 2025 campaign that saw him reach the world’s Top 50, held the first seven games to close out the first and second sets before surrendering the next two.
After a perfect 6-of-6 clip on breakpoints, Ms. Eala quickly bounced back with the last five games to snap the Ms.’s 11-game streak.
And that’s exactly how she wanted to start the New Year with lofty goals of winning more WTA titles, climbing the WTA ladder and having a serious Grand Slam campaign starting with the Australian Open, where she is set for a big draw next week.
“I think every beginning of the year comes in a different way. It’s a new year, a new story for everyone. I’m happy with the way I’m starting. Comfort is an easy thing. It’s difficult for everyone, especially at this level that gives you some challenges. But I’m happy with the way I played,” he said.
But first things first for the newly-crowned queen of the Southeast Asian Games as she clinches a place in the last four on Saturday against veteran rival Magda Linette of Poland, 33, who is ranked and seeded higher than her.
No. 5 seed and WTA No. 52 Miss Linette, who won 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 over WTA No. 81 Elisabetta Cocciaretto from Italy, tied 2-0 with Ms. – John Bryan Ulanday
