Sourced online by Tracy Cabrera
MANILA — Filipina tennis ace Alexandra ‘Alex’ Eala squeaked past world No. 2 and two-time Grand Slam champion Elena Rybakina, 7-5, 6-4, to pull off a massive upset and reach the quarterfinals of the Berlin Open.
Eala’s latest triumph is another signature moment for the budding career of the 21-year-old lass from Quezon City as she produced the biggest victory of her season so far in the tournament early Friday morning (Philippine time) at the Steffi Graf Stadion.
The win was Eala’s fifth against a top-10 player and her second over a tournament’s second seed, following her memorable upset of Iga Świątek in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Miami Open.
Likewise, it was payback for her defeat against Rybakina in the round of 32 of the Italian Open.
After both players held serve through the opening three games of the first set, Rybakina struck first by breaking Eala in the fourth game before backing it up with a comfortable hold to open up a commanding 4-1 advantage.
However, Eala’s resilience refused to let the set slip away. The country’s pride capitalized on a pair of double faults from her Kazakh rival to earn her first break of the match in the seventh game, then followed it up with an emphatic service hold highlighted by two aces to level the set at 4-4.
In the next two games, the set remained finely poised at 5-5, but that was when the Filipina standout delivered the decisive blow, securing another crucial break in the 11th game before digging deep to fend off Rybakina in a gritty final service game, sealing the opening set after nearly an hour of hard-fought tennis.
After the two-time Grand Slam champion held serve in the first game, Eala captured the next three by holding her own serve and an impressive third game break to gain an early 3-1 advantage in the second set, thus pushing Rybakina further back in the match.
This sole break would be pivotal in the set, as the Filipina had no issues exchanging service to pull off the huge upset. The difference actually came on the return, where she consistently put pressure on Rybakina’s second serve. The Filipina won 19 points off those deliveries, more than double Rybakina’s tally of nine.
Eala now looks to continue her impressive run in Berlin as she faces world No. 6 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the quarterfinals.
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