Diana Shnaider Beats Alexandra Eala Again in Tokyo, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, in a Quarterfinal Where the Points Finished Level at 116-116
Eala won the first set, more games and exactly as many points as her opponent — and lost. Shnaider's serve held the difference: five aces and one double fault against Eala's two aces and seven doubles, a week after beating her in Ningbo.
For the second Friday in a row, Diana Shnaider ended Alexandra Eala's week. The third seed beat the eighth seed 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the Toray Pan Pacific Open quarterfinal on Center Court in Tokyo, Sportradar's final listing shows — a rematch that reversed its first set and then turned on the smallest margins in the sport.
Eala, 21, came out with the form that had carried her past Talia Gibson: she took the first set 6-2. Shnaider answered by taking the second set in a tiebreak, the only tiebreak of the match, and closed the third 6-4. The final statistics, as Sportradar recorded them, show how little separated the two: points won finished exactly level at 116-116, and Eala won more games, 16 to 15, and more break points, converting two to Shnaider's one.
The serve supplied the gap. Shnaider struck five aces and hit one double fault; Eala struck two aces and hit seven double faults — in a match decided by a tiebreak and a single break's worth of games, those six free points are the arithmetic of the result.
Shnaider also beat Eala 7-5, 6-4 in their first meeting, at Ningbo last week, TennisHead reported, so the head-to-head now stands 2-0 a week apart. Eala's Tokyo run still returns her to her career-high No. 18 in the live rankings, and her season's penultimate tournament ends in the quarterfinals; Hong Kong, her final event of the year, is next week. Shnaider advances to the Tokyo semifinals.
