VENGEANCE is the name of the game as Alexandra “Alex” Eala smashes for her maiden Final Four stint in the Asian swing against Ningbo tormentor Diana Shnaider of Russia in the WTA 500 Toray Pan Pacific Open at the Ariake Tennis Forest Park in Tokyo.
The wound is still fresh from Ms. Eala’s 7-5, 6-4 defeat at the hands of world No. 13 Ms. Shnaider in the WTA 500 Ningbo Open Round of 16 last week in China, making it the perfect stage to settle the score and further stabilize her campaign from a slew of setbacks.
Court designation and game time are still to be determined but Ms. Eala, world No. 19, is locked and loaded to shoot for her first deep run in the Asian leg of the tour against either No. 65 Alycia Parks of the United States or the winner between No. 18 Naomi Osaka of Japan and No. 144 Mia Pohankova of Slovakia in the semifinals.
And a very capable and high-caliber foe in Ms. Shnaider stands in that way.
“I think Diana (Shnaider) has been having a really great season. She’s obviously playing super well. She was on before me (in Ningbo) and it was a really great match. So, it’s gonna be a tough one. I’m really excited,” said the 21-year-old Filipina pride.
Ms. Eala, the No. 8 seed, earned another shot at Ms. Shnaider, No. 3 seed in Tokyo, after a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 comeback win against No. 38 Talia Gibson of Australia in the Round of 16.
The tennis crowd darling did it behind a staggering 8-0 run bridging the last two sets to recover from a first-set meltdown and finally broke through in the leg of the WTA Tour closer to home.
Not only will this be Ms. Eala’s first Last 8 stint in the Asian swing but also her first since ruling the WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington last August.
Save for a third-round finish in the US Open, Ms. Eala has been on a roller-coaster ride since then, including only two matches won in her first three Asian tournaments, despite being a massive favorite and higher-ranked than her opponents in the WTA 500 Singapore Open and WTA 1000 Wuhan Open.
As the No. 3 seed, Ms. Eala succumbed to No. 123 Tatiana Prozorova of Russia in the Singapore Round of 16 before exiting in Wuhan Round 1 as the No. 13 seed against No. 162 Han Shi of China.
Ms. Eala, as the top seed, also settled for bronze in the 20th Asian Games in Japan after a semifinal loss to No. 82 Xiyu Wang of China but that’s not part of the WTA Tour.
It’s a stark contrast to the 22-year-old Ms. Shnaider, a semifinalist in this year’s French Open, who made her eighth quarterfinal this season and third straight in the Asian swing from Wuhan and Ningbo.
But nothing is cast in stone for Ms. Shnaider in another duel against a fellow lefty ace, especially with an expected predominant Pinoy crowd behind Ms. Eala in Tokyo.
“I’m very happy with the way I played (Wednesday) and the way I competed because definitely, Alex (Eala) will be very dangerous and tough opponent next round,” said Ms. Shnaider after also a gutsy 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over No. 112 Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in the Round of 16. — John Bryan Ulanday