By Tracy Cabrera
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — What could have been another mid-campaign exit was evaded by Filipina spitfire Alexandra ‘Alex’ Eala after coming back from a 4-0 deficit in the third and final set, saving a match point to get past unpredictable Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus and reach the quarterfinals in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 500 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open.
Eala dropped the opening set in front of a heavily pro-Filipino crowd but broke in the final game of the second set to force a decider. From there, she erased the setback before closing out a 2–6, 6–4, 7–6 (5) win in nearly three grueling hours.
The 20-year-old Rafael Nadal Academy graduate amazed tennis fans with her staying power as she outlasted her Belarusian rival, who is ranked world’s number 102, at posh Zayed Sports City’s International Tennis Center in the heart of Abu Dhabi.
But her spot in the last eight was in doubt for much of the match. Sasnovich came out firing, dominating on serve and at one point winning nine straight points from the line. She dropped just six points on serve in the opening set, won all of her first-serve points and didn’t face a break point.
The Belarusian broke again to open the second set, but the match flipped quickly. Eala generated 11 break points in the set, fueled by 19 unforced errors by the Filipina’s foe after just four in the first set. The 31-year-old fought off several of Eala’s advances but was unable to hold when serving to stay in the set, sending the match to a decider after a 66-minute second set.
“I really tried my best in those moments to fight. I really tried to find the fight. And in the end, I think when I was coming back, I was able to find it. So I’m really proud of that.” Eala enthused in her on-court interview after her come from behind triumph
“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,” she added.
The victory sends her to the quarterfinals, where she will face No. 2 seed and world’s no. 11 (as of January 2026) Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia. This is Eala’s fifth career quarterfinal at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level.
Looking ahead in the prestigious WTA 500 tournament, the rising star from Quezon City, who now totes a number 43 world ranking, aims to continue her heroics in the quarterfinals against Alexandrova in what is set to be their first career meeting.
