Filipino sensation Alexandra Eala powered past Jasmine Paolini on Tuesday, overpowering the world No 8 to advance to the last-16 of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Roared on by a fervent crowd, Eala toppled the Italian with ease to take the first set 6-1 before clinching the tiebreak and the match 7-6 in the second.
Eala, the highest-ranked Filipino player in history at No 47, will now face Romanian veteran Sorana Cirstea for a place in the quarter-finals.
With her right thigh heavily bandaged, Eala showed little early signs of discomfort, except perhaps for an unflinching poker face as her fans cheered her name.
Eala gave her supporters plenty of reason to cheer, breaking her opponent twice in quick succession to go 5-1 up before serving out the set to kick-start wild celebrations. As good as Eala was, Paolini was not helping herself, hitting seven unforced errors in the opening set, and letting her chin sink further into her chest as every error was greeted with cheers.
“I think today I came out on fire,” said Eala. “She’s a great opponent, obviously being top 10. To be able to compete with her at this level is a great achievement for me. She is an incredible fighter, to be sure, but I was very focused and I was able to maintain that throughout the whole match. Every time the opportunity arose, I tried my best to be brave and go for my ball.”
In the second set, with Eala 5-3 up, a comfortable straight-set win looked certain. Yet a wobble saw the Filipina fail to convert three match points in the ninth game before failing to serve out the match in the 10th. Paolini, buoyed and ready for battle, rallied to take the match to 6-5 and even twice had the chance to force a third set, but also failed to capitalise.
In the resultant tiebreak, Eala upped her level once more to close it out and secure a monumental career win. Cue raucous celebrations both inside the 5,000-capacity stadium and outside in the Tennis Village, where hordes of Filipinos had congregated to watch on beanbags surrounded with Philippines flags and signs reading “Laban Alex!” (“Fight Alex!”) and “Let’s go Alex!”
“I looked up and there were Filipinos for days,” Eala said, smiling. “It's really such a blessing to be able to play in these sorts of atmospheres. I am really privileged and thankful that I'm able to introduce this new sporting world – women's tennis – to a new demographic. I think they're really enjoying it and I hope it will inspire young girls and women of all ages to take up sports.”
Eala will return to Centre Court on Wednesday when she faces Cirstea, who earlier in the day beat Linda Noskova 6-1, 6-4. “She's a very experienced player and physically very fit,” said Eala of the Romanian. “I'm excited. Everybody at this stage really wants to continue and I'm not an exception to that.”
Earlier in the evening on the same court, Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina looked perfectly at ease as she quickly saw off Australian qualifier Kimberly Birrell.
Racing to a 5-0 lead inside 20 minutes, the Kazakh dropped just one point across the first three games and looked imperious as she closed out the opening set 6-1.
“To return well is an important part of the game,” said Rybakina. “Sometimes I have days when it is really working well for me and some days it is more difficult – it also depends a lot on the opponent. Where I have the best control is my serve because no one is playing to you – it’s your pace.”
The No 1 seed this week following Aryna Sabalenka's much-publicised withdrawal on the eve of the tournament, Rybakina went on another five-game winning run in the second set to open a 5-1 lead. Birrell, positioned more than 90 places below her in the WTA rankings, held serve in the seventh, but it never felt like anything more than prolonging the inevitable as two-time Grand Slam winner Rybakina served for the match to win 6-1, 6-2.
“I’m happy I stayed solid and won this in straight sets,” the 2022 Wimbledon champion said. “I spend so much time in Dubai that it feels like home. A lot of people who work here [at this tournament] always say, ‘Welcome back’ and ‘Welcome home’ so it always feels nice.”
Rybakina’s next opponent will be Lucky Loser Antonia Ruzic.
Two-time Dubai winner Elina Svitolina also progressed to the last 16 and will now face Belinda Bencic, also on Wednesday. Ukrainian Svitolina, champion here in 2017 and 2018, moved through after Dubai-based Paula Badosa retired at the start of the second set having lost the first 4-6.
