Crowd favorite Alexandra Eala survived a nerve-wracking showdown with Czech nemesis Tereza Valentova before pulling off a 6-4, 7-6 (9/7) win as she advanced to the quarter-finals of the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open.
The second seed from the Philippines clinched the victory on her fourth matchpoint in the second-set tiebreak, hammering a forehand down the line that Valentova had no chance of reaching, to end an intense one-hour, 57-minute battle.
“It was so tough, really tough,” Eala said during the courtside interview. “I’m really happy with that, I think I escaped by a little bit.”
It was the first time Eala, 21, had beaten the 19-year-old Valentova in three meetings, and the Filipina needed to dig deep in front of her fans at the Victoria Park Tennis Centre.
She raced to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreak but allowed Valentova back to level at 6-6, blowing two matchpoints, the last with a volley error.
Both players’ service games came under pressure throughout the match but Eala came through at the most crucial times.
From 4-4 in the first set, Eala again fell behind in her serve before holding for a 5-4 lead and then breaking Valentova at love to clinch it at 6-4.
Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic also advanced after she upset Chinese sixth seed Wang Xinyu 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Alexandra Shubladze beat fellow Russian Elena Pridankina 6-7 (6/8), 6-1, 6-3, while Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez defeated Britain’s Mika Stojsavljevic 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
