Eala earns third Top 10 win, outduels Paolini in energized Dubai night session

Alexandra Eala’s star continues to rise. On Tuesday night in Dubai, she earned one of the biggest wins of her career, defeating World No. 8 and former champion Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 7-6 (5) in 1 hour and 40 minutes. She converted her fifth match point in a tense second-set tiebreak to close out the victory.

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As has become customary wherever she plays, Eala drew a large, vocal Filipino crowd to Center Court, and she rewarded them with an inspired performance. The 20-year-old collected her third Top 10 win at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level, and her first since last year’s miraculous Miami semifinal run that put her on the map. The win also sends her to the Round of 16 at a WTA 1000 event for the first time since Miami.

“All the emotions are coming because the tension was so high, especially during that second set,” Eala said in her on-court interview. “So I’m really happy to have gotten through. (Paolini) is a great opponent, obviously, being Top 10 and a former champion here, so to be able to compete with her at this level is a great achievement for me.

“In the tiebreak, I was trying everything to keep myself in check. At the change of ends, I was thinking, you know, this stadium is full of Filipinos. I thought, ‘How many of them are probably praying for me to win?’ So I really had to give everything I got.”

Not known for her serving credentials, Eala was dominant on serve in the opening set. She landed 67% of her first serves and won a robust 86% of those points. She added a 57% mark on second-serve points and did not face a single break point in the set.

For a fleeting moment in the second set, it appeared as if Eala might win going away after breaking for a 2-1 lead. But Paolini got back on serve at 3-3, and after Eala again went up a break at 4-3, the Italian saved three match points to hold for 5-4. She then broke Eala as she served for the match to level at 5-all.

After all that, Eala still had to fend off two set points before holding serve and sending the set into a tiebreak.

“I tried to remind myself that I was doing well,” Eala said of her mindset in her post-match press conference. “I have to watch it again, but I don't think I did anything disastrous during those moments, and she earned those points.

“Every time the opportunity arose, I tried my best to be brave and go for my ball.”

The breaker featured some of the highest-quality tennis of the night. Each of the first eight points ended with a winner, leaving the two deadlocked at 4-4. But a slight dip from Paolini opened the door for two more match points, and Eala struck a forehand winner on the latter to seal the upset.

What followed was a full-on “Filipino frenzy,” as chants of “Ale, Ale, Ale,” rained down from the stands, the fans doing everything in their power to ensure their hero heard their cries.

Eala received their message loud and clear, addressing them briefly in Filipino after the match, shortly after becoming the first Filipino player to reach the Round of 16 at the Dubai Tennis Championships since the event’s inauguration in 2001.

She is also the first Filipino player to reach the Round of 16 at multiple Tier I or WTA 1000 events since the introduction of the Tier format in 1990.

She’ll look to go one step further and make her second WTA 1000 quarterfinal, and her first in Dubai, by capturing what would be her first victory against Sorana Cirstea in the third round. Cirstea won their lone meeting in Madrid 2024 in three sets.