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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Magnificent Alex Eala completes big comeback over Belarusian foe, enters Abu Dhabi quarters

Magnificent Alex Eala completes big comeback over Belarusian foe, enters Abu Dhabi quarters

Published Feb 5, 2026 08:45 am

At A Glance

  • Alex Eala showed steely nerves and carved out a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7) win over Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich to reach the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open quarterfinals in the UAE Thursday, Feb. 5 (Philippine time).
Alex Eala (PWO/File)
Alex Eala (PWO/File)
Alex Eala showed steely nerves and carved out a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7) win over Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich to reach the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open quarterfinals in the UAE Thursday, Feb. 5 (Philippine time).
The round-of-16 action that lasted 2 hours and 51 minutes saw both players duke it out for every point, especially the 20-year-old Eala who overcame a 0-4 deficit in the decider before she made another comeback in the tiebreak to fend off the veteran Sasnovich.
Unseeded in the tournament, the WTA No. 45 Eala booked her spot in the quarters where she takes on No. 2 seed Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, who cruised past Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, 6-3, 6-0.
“Each round is even more of a challenge, I think it has its own unique challenges in every match, so I’ll try my best to recover and prepare for that one [quarters],” said Eala.
The Filipina ace and her Indonesian partner Janice Tjen also advanced to the quarters of the doubles event, facing Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and China’s Shuai Zhang.
“I’m so happy I can't believe it. Grabe napasubok talaga ‘yong tibay ng dibdib ko,” said Eala. “At siguro kayo rin, kaya congrats mga kababayan. Mabuhay, maraming salamat po.”
“I just think these moments or just moments I only have dreamed about, selling out stadiums is insane, and these matches in particular, are really the ones that stick with you… I’m really happy with this win,” she added.
Eala’s presence was hardly felt early, with the world No. 109 imposing herself by jumping to an early lead and carrying it through to close out the first set.
But things turned different in the second set as Eala broke a nip-and-tuck 3-3 affair and produced splendid outings to take the last three of four games to force an extension.
Tensions rose when Sasnovich unleashed a dominant stretch in the third set, racing to a 4-0 lead and later moving ahead 5-2 with a break point to seal the victory in the eighth, only for the Filipina netter to fight her way back.
Eala surged to 6-5 but faltered, allowing Sasnovich to push the game to a tiebreak.
In the following minutes, Sasnovich fought back to 5-4 and looked poised for another opportunity, but Eala completed her comeback, forcing the 31-year-old to consecutive service errors to steal the match.
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