ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA shoots for her second straight semifinal appearance against Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in the battle between top-10 seeds in the WTA125 Suzhou Open on Friday at Sungent International Tennis Center in China.
Ms. Eala, the No. 4 seed, and No. 6 Ms. Golubic came off contrasting paths from the Round of 16 heading into their gigantic duel for a shot at No. 2 seed Tatjana Maria of Germany in the Final Four. WTA No. 44 Ms. Maria, the No. 2 seed, had a walkover over WTA No. 63 and No. 5 seed Yulia Putintseva due to still undisclosed reasons.
But first things first for the WTA No. 58 Ms. Eala, who has to recover quickly from a grueling duel against WTA No. 106 Greet Minnen in three hours and 18 minutes as one of the longest battles in her skyrocketing career.
The 20-year-old Filipina pride hacked out a 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (3-7), 7-5 win over Ms. Minnen to notch her fourth straight quarterfinal stint in the WTA Tour and bagged a guaranteed $3,450 (over P200,000) purse.
She now has a chance to jack it up to $5,300 or approximately P308,000 with a win against the 32-year-old Ms. Golubic in a still-to-be determined game time on Friday pending the completion of other Round of 16 duels. Her match against Ms. Golubic is scheduled third in four quarterfinal pairing at center court.
More than that, Ms. Eala could move two steps away from capturing her second WTA title in a month after a breakthrough crown in the WTA125 Guadalajara Open in Mexico.
She also made the quarterfinals of the WTA250 Sao Paulo Open in Brazil and the semifinals of the WTA125 Jingshan nearby, shoring up her stature as one of the most consistent players in the WTA Tour that will also include stops in the Wuhan Open on Oct. 6 to 12 and the Hong Kong Open on Oct. 27 to Nov. 2.
That bid, however, will be tough nut to crack against Ms. Golubic, who hardly broke a sweat against WTA No. 140 Linda Fruhvirtova with a 6-2, 6-0 win in 61 minutes in their own Round of 16 duel. — John Bryan Ulanday
