Qualified for the Abu Dhabi Open quarterfinal
ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA never let the Philippines die, saving several points to defeat Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(7-5) and advance to the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Center.
The tenacious Filipina pride melted away 0-4 and 2-5 deficits with a stunning 5-1 shutout marked by a thunderous rout that the Belarusian ace couldn’t come back from to pull off a thrilling upset sweep in the Round of 16.
Ms.’s homecoming ball. Sasnovich kissed the net first, went up and out of bounds as “A-LEX, A-LEX, A-LEX!” chants from the crowd filled with Filipinos erupted and blanketed the Sports Stadium Ms. Eala stood holding her head in her two hands and the racquet in disbelief.
With unparalleled support in the Middle East as if at home, Ms. Eala was going to shoot at press time (9 pm Thursday) to get the big star against No. 2 seed and WTA No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia to earn a place in the final four of the prestigious 500-ranked tour.
The 31-year-old Ms. Alexandrova, who is the highest seed remaining after the withdrawal of No.
“I’m very happy, I can’t believe it,” highlighted Ms. Eala will also try to get a ticket for the doubles semifinal with Indonesian partner Janice Tjen against the second seed of Chinese Shuai Zhang (doubles No.7) and Spaniard Cristina Bucsa (doubles No. 22), a few hours after her singles performance.
“These moments are just the moments I’ve been dreaming about. Selling out stadiums is crazy. These games in particular are like the ones that stay strong for you and I’ve had a lot of them over the last year so I’m really happy with this win.”
Mrs. Eala entered the tournament with a big step after sweeping the WTA No. 79 Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey, 6-4, 6-3, and climbed to a new career best of WTA No.
He and Ms. Tjen, WTA No. 47, they also advanced to two quarterfinals after stunning WTA No. 25 Filipina-Canadian Leylah Fernandez and nine-time Grand Slam doubles champion Kristina Mladenovic of France, 7-5, 3-6, 10-6.
But that didn’t seem true to Ms. It was the 31-year-old Sasnovich, who has 18 ITF titles under her belt, who was quick to tap into her experience and put Ms Eala in her place with a 6-2 victory in the first set.
Mrs. Eala got his revenge and made the red-blooded Belarusian bleed only three games, paving the way for the referee where he has just entered the show for another big comeback in his fast-growing career.
Following a flat 0-4 start, Ms. Eala was pushed to the edge by Mrs. Sasnovich hit five aces throughout the match, breaking the Filipinos’ 5-2 lead to earn match point, including a return from deuce.
Mrs. Eala said no and came to life after three deuces, was caught close to 3-5 and then returned the favor to Ms. Sasnovich for breaking his career during the match and once again knocked on his door with 4-5.
There was nothing to stop Ms. Eala from there, saying that the next two games will end up stealing the driver’s seat, 6-5, followed by the equalizing goal of Ms. Sasnovich to stop the bleeding and force a tiebreaker.
Like a sharp net, Ms. Sasnovich continued his stand in the race to seven and kept Ms. Eala ran away with a 5-4 lead – another chance to finish off a meaningless low shot – only for the Filipina to pull the last ace up her sleeve to make it 3-0.
“I think he started very well and in difficult times, he went up a lot with services and many winners. I just tried my best to fight. I tried to find a fight and, finally, when I came back, I was able to find it and I’m proud of that,” added Mrs. Eala, turning her attention to Ms. Alexander.
“I have a long way to go. Each round is a challenge. It has its own unique challenges so I will try my best to recover and prepare for that one.”
By finishing the Top 8 at a high level, Mrs. Eala as of writing is now No. 38 in the WTA live rankings with 81 points plus a new career best and could jump to the top if she makes the last four. – John Bryan Ulanday
