Alex Eala battles veteran Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland in the quarterfinals of the Suzhou Open WTA 125 on Friday.
This will be their first career meeting. The 32-year-old Golubic is currently at No. 70 in the WTA rankings and reached a career singles best of No. 35 in 2022. She also holds two WTA Tour titles.
Her best result in the Grand Slams was a quarterfinal stint in the 2021 Wimbledon.
Eala, meanwhile, is ranked No. 58, boosted by a busy year that included a historic run at the Miami Open, a finals appearance at the Lexus Eastbourne Open, and long-awaited main-draw debuts in the Grand Slams. She won her first WTA 125 title in the Guadalajara 125 Open last month.
Seeded sixth in Suzhou, Golubic reached the quarterfinals after two straight set victories over fellow Swiss Rebeka Masarova and Czechia’s Linda Fruhvirtova.
In contrast, Eala, seeded fourth, has had to grind out back-to-back three-set wins-rallying past Katarzyna Kawa of Poland and surviving a three-hour battle with Belgium’s Greet Minnen.
The Filipino tennis ace is aiming for a second consecutive semifinal in China after her run in the Jingshan Tennis Open last week, where she fell to eventual champion Lulu Sun.