It was not easy, but Alex Eala is heading to the quarterfinal round of the WTA Suzhou Open in China after hacking out a 7-6(5), (3)6-7, 7-5 victory over Greet Minnen Wednesday in China.
Eala and Minnen battled each other in three hours and 18 minutes, but the Filipina finally grabbed the win as she broke her opponent’s serve in the 12th game.
After a hard-fought victory in the first set, the pride of Belgium went toe-to-toe with Eala in the second frame as she won the tiebreak.
It was more of the same in the third set, as the two tennisters could not get enough separation.
Minnen, ranked 106th in the world, tied things up at 5-all in the 10th game, before the World No. 58 held her serve and took the 6-5 advantage.
The Rafa Nadal Academy graduate then denied Minnen from forcing the tiebreak, digging deep to grab the victory.
Eala punched in 50 receiving points compared to her opponent’s 35. Minnen, though, won 84 service points compared to Eala’s 77.
The Belgian player, however, committed 10 double faults which offset her nine service aces.
Eala will now be taking on Viktorija Golubic in the quarterfinals. The Swiss tennister, ranked 70th in the world, defeated Linda Fruhvirtova in the Round of 16.