TENNIS – Alex Eala showed remarkable resilience to storm into the 2026 Hong Kong Tennis Open semi-final, surviving a gruelling straight-sets battle against Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic yesterday.
The 21-year-old Filipino star emerged victorious with a hard-fought 7-6 (7), 7-5 win to secure her fourth semifinal berth of the season and her first of the current Asian swing.
Eala faces a monumental test today against tournament fourth seed Maria Sakkari of Greece for a place in the final.
Sakkari defeated qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-3 in their own quarter-final clash.
Qualifier Alexandra Shubladze stunned No. 1 seed Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3 to reach her first tour-level semi-final. She will face American Claire Liu who beat Zeynep Sonmez 6-1 6-4 for a final slot.
Eala won in two hours and 30 minutes of gritty baseline warfare. Just 24 hours prior, she had endured a demanding two-hour match against Tereza Valentova.
The opening frame mirrored her previous outing, culminating in high-stakes drama. After opening up a commanding 5-0 cushion in the tiebreak, Eala suffered a sudden lapse, allowing Ruzic to string together a furious comeback and snatch a 7-5 lead.
Standing on the precipice of losing the set, the Filipina dug deep, erasing the deficit to steal the opening set.
The second set proved to be a similar emotional rollercoaster. Eala initially looked poised to run away with the match after building a 4-2 lead, but a brief rain delay breathed new life into Ruzic.
The Croatian capitalised on the momentum shift, barreling through back-to-back games to take a 5-4 lead.
With a deciding third set looming, Eala found her championship poise.
Under intense pressure, she rattled off three consecutive games, punctuating her comeback with a dominant service game to seal the match.
“It was a rollercoaster, for sure, and an incredible battle,” Eala said afterward.
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