DUBAI TILT: Eala conquers former tormentor to book Final 8 ticket

Sports

ALEX Eala scored and vengeful win to book a quarterfinal ticket in the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates.

Egged on by a large Filipino crowd, Eala came up with another impressive showing to defeat former tormentor Romanian Sorana Cirstea, 7-5, 6-4, early Thursday (Philippine time), Feb. 19.

After scoring a huge win over No. 8 Italian Jasmine Paolini in the Round of 32, Eala once again played steady as she broke from a 5-5 standoff to win the opening set.

The two players also figured in a nip-and-tuck duel in the second set but Eala came up with powerful shots to eventually edge out Cirstea.

Eala, thus, avenged her three-set loss to the world No. 32 Cirstea in the 2024 Mutua Madrid Open.

In the quarterfinal round, Eala will face American Coco Gauff, who outlasted Elise Mertens, 2-6, 7-6(9), 6-3, in their own Round of 16 duel.

With the big win over Cirstea, Eala sealed her second quarterfinal appearance in a WTA 1000 event. The 20-year-old Filipina tennis star made history last year when she appeared in the quarters of Miami Open--a WTA 1000 event.

The Miami Open run became special for Eala after she took down high-profile players, including No. 2 Polish Iga Swiatek and then No. 5 (currently No. 17) American Madison Keys.(CCM)