Arya News - After losing to Tereza Valentova of Czech Republic in straight sets in their first two meetings, Eala finally got one over the world No. 85 but needed to dig deep, especially in the tiebreak, to come away with the Round of 16 victory.
MANILA – Alex Eala scored a breakthrough 6-4, 7-6 (7) win over Tereza Valentova of Czech Republic to advance to the 2026 quarterfinals of the Hong Kong Tennis Open.
After losing to Valentova in straight sets in their first two meetings, Eala finally got one over the world No. 85 but needed to dig deep, especially in the tiebreak, to come away with the Round of 16 victory.
“I had to fight. It was really, really tough. I think Tereza played incredibly and we were able to bring the match to a really high level. And I think that was reflected in the scores,” Eala said.
Eala lost a 5-0 lead in the tightly contested tiebreak after Valentova won five of the next six games to pull within one, 6-5.
Valentova pulled level at 7-7 after Eala sent a shot wide, before the Filipino tennis standout recovered with back-to-back points to seal the match in close to two hours.
“I’m really happy with that win. I think I escaped by a little bit,” Eala said with a smile. “I think it was a long second set, long tiebreak for sure, but I was just focusing on the next point.”
Eala has struggled against several Czech players on Tour, including Valentova, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 42 earlier in May.
But determined to make a deep run in her last tournament of the season, Eala came out firing with a 4-1 lead built on furious rallies in the first set.
Valentova, who has never beaten a top-20 player, managed to tie the opening set at 4-4, but Eala regained her footing and broke her opponent to take the set.
Eala played catch-up in the second set after Valentova consolidated a break with a love hold for a 5-3 lead. The 21-year-old world No. 17 responded with a big hold, then won back-to-back points to regain the edge at 6-5.
Valentova forced the set into a tiebreak, but could not complete the comeback as Eala held her nerve to close out the match.
“Of course, the previous two meetings were super difficult. So I knew it was going to be a tough battle. I just tried to be better than the previous time that we met,” Eala said of her head-to-head with Valentova.
Eala, who opened her Hong Kong Open bid with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Emerson Jones, faces Antonia Ruzic of Croatia in the quarterfinals scheduled for Friday.