A SECOND straight quarterfinal berth is at stake as Alexandra “Alex” Eala tries to finally score one on Czech ace Tereza Valentova in the WTA 250 Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open at the Victoria Park Tennis Stadium.
Ms. Valentova is part of the Czech curse that Ms. Eala has experienced in her career, going 0-13 before finally solving the mystery puzzle with a title in Birmingham earlier this year against Nikola Bartunkova in the finale.
During that stretch, Ms. Eala bowed to the 19-year-old Ms. Valentova twice, both via straight sets in the Japan Open last year and in the Qatar Open this year.
And that should serve as enough motivation for the 21-year-old Filipina pride, the second seed in Hong Kong, who earned a shot at the lower-ranked but still formidable Ms. Valentova (No. 85) after an easy 6-4, 6-3 win over last-minute replacement Emerson Jones of Australia (No. 132).
Ms. Eala had to face a different foe in the first round after the withdrawal of original rival in No. 59 Alycia Parks of the United States due to a shoulder injury.
It will be Ms. Eala’s fifth straight WTA Tour stint in a month and sixth overall including the 20th Asian Games, marching into battle fresh from a Last 8 finish in the WTA 500 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan for her first deep run on the heels of consecutive slides.
For Ms. Eala, the only way is forward, shrugging off any fatigue at the homestretch of the season for a chance to climb higher in the WTA echelon.
“I hit my career high this week. If I’m tired and I’m 17 in the world, that’s great,” said Ms. Eala, who improved from No. 19 after falling just short from a semifinal seat in Tokyo against eventual champion and now No. 11 Diana Shnaider of Russia.
“Being tired is a blessing as well. Being tired means that I’ve been working hard, I’ve been having lots of matches and competing a lot. Being tired means that I’m healthy enough to work, I’m healthy enough and in a healthy mindset to put myself in these situations of pressure.”
Ms. Eala hopes to continue the run, even against a tough tormentor in Ms. Valentova, who scored a 6-3, 7-5 win over No. 129 Himeno Sakatsume of Japan in Round 1.
A win by Ms. Eala would push her to a duel against either No. 38 Xinyu Wang of China or the winner between No. 81 Antonia Ruzic of Croatia and No. 82 Alina Charaeva of Armenia, for a Final Four ticket. — John Bryan Ulanday