ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA unleashed the Filipino never say die spirit, saving multiple match points to hack out a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(7-5) win against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus and roll into the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open quarterfinals at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre.
The resilient Filipina pride melted 0-4 and 2-5 deficits with an amazing 5-1 closeout punctuated by a thunderous serve that the Belarusian ace could not return to pull off the thrilling reverse sweep in the Round of 16.
Ms. Sasnovich’s return ball kissed through the net first, bounced up high then went out of bounds as “A-LEX, A-LEX, A-LEX!” chants from a predominant Filipino crowd erupted and blanketed the Stadium Court with Ms. Eala at standstill holding her head with her two hands and the racquet in disbelief.
With an unparalleled support in the Middle East as if she’s at home, Ms. Eala was to shoot at press time (9 p.m. on Thursday) for the bigger star against No. 2 seed and WTA No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia for a seat in the final four of the prestigious 500-level Tour.
The 31-year-old Ms. Alexandrova, the highest remaining seed after the withdrawal of No. 1 and reigning champion Belinda Bencic of Switzerland due to illness, made short work of No. 43 Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, 6-3, 6-0.
“I’m so happy, I can’t believe it,” beamed Ms. Eala who will also try to net a doubles semifinal ticket with Indonesian partner Janice Tjen against the second seed tandem of Chinese Shuai Zhang (doubles No.7) and Spaniard Cristina Bucsa (doubles No. 22), just hours after her singles stint.
“These moments are just moments I have only dreamed about. Selling out stadiums is insane. These matches in particular are kind of the ones that stick with you and I’ve had a lot of them in the past year so I’m really happy with this win.”
Ms. Eala marched into the duel with a great stride after sweeping WTA No. 79 Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey, 6-4, 6-3, and soaring to a new-career best of WTA No. 45, up four rungs from No. 49.
She and Ms. Tjen, WTA No. 47, also barged into the doubles 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 seemed to be a nonfactor for the 31-year-old Ms. Sasnovich, with 18 ITF titles under her belt, who was quick to stamp her experience and put Ms. Eala in her place with a 6-2 domination in the first set.
Ms. Eala retaliated and made the grizzled Belarusian bleed for just three games, paving the way for the decider where she just put on a show for one of the biggest comebacks in her fast-rising career.
Following a flat 0-4 start, Ms. Eala was pushed to the brink by the hard-hitting Ms. Sasnovich with five aces in the entire match, breaking the Filipina’s serve to go 5-2 for match point, including an advantage from a deuce.
Ms. Eala said no and stayed alive after three deuces, held serve to strike closer at 3-5 then returned the favor on Ms. Sasnovich by breaking her serve then at match point once again to knock on her doorstep at 4-5.
There was no stopping Ms. Eala from there, claiming the next two games to ultimately steal the driver’s seat, 6-5, followed by Ms. Sasnovich’s equalizer to stop the bleeding and force a tiebreaker.
As a grizzled netter that she is, Ms. Sasnovich maintained her poise in the race-to-seven extension and kept Ms. Eala at bay for a 5-4 lead — another chance to finish the never-say-die young gun — only for the Filipina to pull off one last ace up her sleeve for a 3-0 finishing kick.
“I think she started really well and in the tight moments, she really stepped up with serves and a lot of winners. I just really tried my best in those moments to fight. I tried to find the fight and, in the end, when I was coming back, I was able to find it and I’m really proud of that,” added Ms. Eala, shifting her focus to the multititled Ms. Alexandrova.
“I do have a long way to go. Each round is a challenge. It has its own unique challenges so I’ll try my best to recover and prepare for that one.”
With a sure Top 8 finish in a top-level tourney, Ms. Eala as of writing is now No. 38 in the WTA live rankings with 81 additional points for a new career-best and could jump higher given a final four entry. — John Bryan Ulanday
