Filipino Alexandra Eala rallied past Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Manila) to reach the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open at Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre in the United Arab Emirates.
Eala, currently World No. 45, pulled off a huge comeback from 0-4 in the third set, sending a predominantly Filipino crowd to their feet after reaching match point, 6-5.
Sasnovich forced a tie-break, but misplays allowed Eala to complete an epic comeback to win the match in almost three hours to the delight of her Filipino fans.
“I’m so happy. I can’t believe it,” Eala said in her on-court interview, then she acknowledged the crowd.
“Grabe! Napasubok talaga yung tibay ng dibdib ko at sigurado ako na kayo din kaya congrats mga kababayan. Maraming salamat po (Awesome! My will was really tested and I’m sure you were too, so congratulations, my countrymen. Thank you very much).”
The Filipino tennis star will be up against No. 2 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, who scored a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine to also move to the quarterfinals.
“These moments are moments I only have dreamed about. Selling out stadiums is insane and being in these matches in particular is just really the ones that kind of stick with you. And I’ve had a lot of them in the past year, so I’m really happy with this win,” Eala said.
Eala also advanced to the doubles quarterfinals with Janice Tjen of Indonesia after beating Leylah Fernandez of Canada and Kristina Mladenovic of France, 7-5, 3-6, 10-6, on Tuesday.
Sonay Kartal of Great Britain and Sara Bejlek of the Czech Republic defeated separate rivals to arrange a quarterfinal showdown.
Kartal, who ousted defending champion and No. 1 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the first round, prevailed over Renata Zarazua of Mexico, 6-0, 6-3.
Bejlek, on the other hand, stunned No. 7 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 6-4, 6-3.
In other matches, No. 3 seed Carla Tauson of Denmark trounced Simona Waltert of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-1, and Hailey Baptiste of USA shocked compatriot and No. 4 seed Emma Navarro, 7-6 (6), 0-6, 6-3.
In the doubles category, Eala and Indonesian Janice Tjen will face No. 2 seeds Cristina Bucsa of Spain and Shuai Zhang of China in the quarterfinal round on Thursday.
Bucsa and Zhang downed twins Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine, 6-1, 6-4.
The semifinal match between Sofia Kenin/ Desirae Krawozyk and Ekaterina Alexandrova/Maya Joint of Australia is also scheduled on Thursday.
Kenin/Krawozyk walked over Ostapenko/Barbara Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, while Alexandrova/ Maya Joint of Australia stunned third seeds Ellen Perez of Australia and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-1.
Fourth seeds Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia and Olivia Nicholls of Great Britain marched to the Final Four following their 5-7, 7-6 (5), 10-8 victory over Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Irina Khromacheva. (PNA)
