MANILA – Alexandra Eala rallied past Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), Wednesday night (Thursday morning, Feb. 5, 2026, in PH) to reach the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre in the United Arab Emirates.
Eala, currently World No. 45, pulled off a huge comeback from 0-4 in the third set, sending a predominantly Filipino crowd to their feet after reaching match point, 6-5.
Sasnovich forced a tie-break, but misplays allowed Eala to complete an epic comeback to win the match in almost three hours to the delight of her Filipino fans.
“I’m so happy. I can’t believe it,” Eala said in her on-court interview, then she acknowledged the crowd.
“Grabe! Napasubok talaga yung tibay ng dibdib ko at sigurado ako na kayo din kaya congrats mga kababayan. Maraming salamat po (Awesome! My will was really tested and I’m sure you were too, so congratulations, my countrymen. Thank you very much),” Eala addressed her fans.
The Filipino tennis star will be up against No. 2 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, who scored a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine to also move to the quarterfinals.
“These moments are moments I only have dreamed about. Selling out stadiums is insane and being in these matches in particular are just really the ones that kind of stick with you. And I’ve had a lot of them in the past year, so I’m really happy with this win,” Eala said.
Eala also advanced to the doubles quarterfinals with Janice Tjen of Indonesia after beating Leylah Fernandez of Canada and Kristina Mladenovic of France, 7-5, 3-6, 10-6, on Tuesday.
Sonay Kartal of Great Britain and Sara Bejlek of the Czech Republic defeated separate rivals to arrange a quarterfinal showdown.
Kartal, who ousted defending champion and No. 1 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the first round, prevailed over Renata Zarazua of Mexico, 6-0, 6-3.
Bejlek, on the other hand, stunned No. 7 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 6-4, 6-3.
In other matches, No. 3 seed Carla Tauson of Denmark trounced Simona Waltert of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-1, and Hailey Baptiste of USA shocked compatriot and No. 4 seed Emma Navarro, 7-6 (6), 0-6, 6-3. / PNA