Alexandra Eala in Tokyo: Nine Aces, the Final Nine Games, and a Quarterfinal Rematch With Diana Shnaider on Friday
The 21-year-old from the Philippines lost the first set to Talia Gibson, then did not lose another game that mattered — 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 — to reach her first quarterfinal of the Asian swing and lock in a return to No. 18.
Alexandra Eala is trending in the United States this week because of how she finished a match in Tokyo. The 21-year-old Filipina, seeded eighth and ranked No. 19, beat Australia's Talia Gibson 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 on Wednesday at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, winning the final nine games of a match that lasted 1 hour and 53 minutes, TennisNow reported.
The serve supplied the turnaround. Eala struck nine aces and 29 winners, alojapan reported, landed 71 percent of her first serves and broke Gibson six times while saving all four break points she faced over the final two sets. It was her 25th hard-court win of 2026 and improved her to 36-23 overall, according to TennisNow.
The two wins in Tokyo — she opened by beating Mika Stojsavljevic 6-1, 6-2 — have already secured her return to her career-high ranking of No. 18, TennisWorldUSA reported, with 2,289 live-ranking points, 25 behind No. 17 Belinda Bencic, who is not playing this week.
Friday's quarterfinal is a rematch with a score attached. Third seed Diana Shnaider, ranked No. 13, beat Eala 7-5, 6-4 in the second round at Ningbo last week, and Shnaider advanced in Tokyo by beating Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. A win would put Eala in her first semifinal since her maiden WTA title at the Washington Open on August 1, as the GoldSea report of the Gibson match noted.
