Filipina ace Alex Eala staves off late challenge from her Russian foe to move on in the W100 tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
Alex Eala continues her deep run at the W100 Dubai tournament at the Untied Arab Emirates as she reached the quarterfinals in both the singles and doubles, fending off Yuliya Hatouka on Wednesday afternoon.
Eala, seeded fourth in the tournament, survived a bigger challenge from Hatouka in the second set to clinch a sweeping victory, 6-3, 7-5, in the Round of 16 at the UAE.
After a lopsided opening set win, Eala fought back from a 4-5 deficit in the second set to deny Hatouka and reach the quarterfinals of her last tournament of the year.
Despite not being known for her service game, Eala fired off three aces in Game 10 of the second set to tie the set, swinging momentum back on her side after Hatouka won three games in a row.
She then followed it up by breaking her opponent’s serve in the next game.
Eala finished her foe off with a flourish, taking Game 12 after three deuces to complete the sweep, 7-5.
On Tuesday, the 19-year-old also won her Round of 16 doubles match with Greek partner Valentini Grammatikopoulou as they beat Daria Kudashova and Ekaterina Shalimova, 6-2, 6-4.
She thus competes for a spot in the semis for both tournaments.
At the moment, Eala has five singles titles and three doubles titles in the ITF circuit. She began competing in the ITF tour back in 2021.