ALEX Eala's run in Mubadala is far from a fable.
The Filipina ace, ranked no. 45 in the WTA rankings, clawed her way back from a 0-4 hole in the decider, flipping the script when it mattered most to stun Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5), in a near three-hour thriller early Thursday morning, Manila time, to barge into the WTA500 Abu Dhabi Open quarterfinals.
Up against the 31-year-old veteran and WTA no. 109, the 20-year-old Eala showed poise beyond her years, fighting point for point until the very last ball for the statement win.
READ: Eala, Tjen book Abu Dhabi Open doubles quarterfinals spot
After Sasnovich dictated the tempo early, Eala turned the tide in the second set, trading blows game for game before finding another gear late to force a decider.
Momentum swung again in the third as Sasnovich raced to a ruthless 4-0 lead, pushing Eala immediately onto the back foot.
But starting in the fifth game, Eala began her charge, taking two straight games to shift the energy.
Sasnovich briefly halted the surge, only for Eala to rip off three of the next four to level at 5-5 and grab the lead at 6-5.
Sasnovich was quick to answer back to force a tiebreak, where Eala won the race to finally seal the comeback.
Eala now sets her sights on a quarterfinal clash against world no. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova.
She also remains alive in doubles alongside Indonesia’s Janice Tjen, her fellow Southeast Asian, with the pair set to see quarterfinal action late Thursday night.
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