Eala edges Valentova to book Hong Kong Open quarters berth

MANILA, Philippines -- Alex Eala is heading to the quarterfinal round of the Hong Kong Open after grinding out a 6-3, 7-6(7) win over Czechia’s Tereza Valentova Thursday evening. 

Eala has now surpassed her second-round exit in last year’s edition of the WTA 250 tournament.

"Laban. Laban. It was so tough, really really tough. I think Teresa played incredibly and we were able to bring the match to a really high level," Eala said after the match. 

"I think that was reflected on the score.So, I'm really happy with that win. I think I escaped by a little bit."

The World No. 17 tennister rushed to a 3-0 lead in the first set as she looked primed to have a dominant evening. 

But Valentova had other plans, turning a 4-1 lead to a 4-all deadlock. 

After a hard-fought battle in the ninth game, Eala was able to gain the upper hand, 5-4, as she held her serve. 

And the Filipina was able to take the first set, 6-4, as she broke her opponent’s serve. 

Come the second set, Valentova seemed to have found her rhythm, turning a 1-2 deficit to a 5-3 lead. 

However, Eala woke up just in time against the 85th-ranked Czechian tennister, going up, 6-5. 

Valentova, then, forced the tiebreak, tying things up at 6-all. 

Here, Eala jumped to a 5-0 lead, but the Czechian stormed back, tying things up at 6-all. 

The Filipina then took the lead with a beautiful return, but an error tied things up anew at 7-all. 

An error by Valentova on the return gave Eala the lead, and the Filipina's return found the edge of the court for the win. 

The Filipina will now take on World No. 81 Antonia Ruzic in the quarterfinal round. 

Ruzic, earlier in the day, stunned World No. 38 Wang Xinyu in their second round matchup in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

This is the first win of Eala against Valentova through two matches. 

"You don't go into battle without a plan. But, yeah, I think the previous two meetings were super difficult," Eala, who punched in three aces against her opponent's four, said.

"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 had two less unforced errors against her opponent, who had 28. Valentova also had 29 winners against Eala's 18. But the Filipina won four out of four break points, while the Czechian notched a 3-of-12 record from the break points.