By the numbers: Eala reaches first Dubai quarterfinal to set matchup with Gauff

Playing in front of another raucous Center Court crowd, Alexandra Eala was pushed throughout by savvy veteran Sorana Cirstea, but the 20-year-old stood tall in the biggest moments to earn a 7-5, 6-4 win in 1 hour and 38 minutes. 

Dubai: Scores | Draws | Order of play 

The victory sends her into her first Dubai quarterfinal and sets up a highly anticipated first meeting with Coco Gauff at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level.

“Every round is such a battle and so filled with tension,” Eala said in her on-court interview. “So I’m really happy with how I performed, and I’m really happy to be able to share it with all of you.

“The key today was staying calm and trusting my shots. I think I was very solid in particular moments where I needed to be, [and] that reflected in my performance and in the score.”

That theme carried throughout the match. The first such moment came at 5-all in the opening set, when Eala earned a crucial break for 6-5 to give herself the chance to serve out the set. Cirstea saved the first two set points she faced, but Eala converted the third to take the opener six minutes shy of the hour mark.

Eala held a break point to start the second set and capitalized on Cirstea’s second serve to move ahead 1-0. She again punished the Romanian’s second serve to break for 3-0, then consolidated with a hold to love to build a commanding 4-0 lead.

After saving two break points to hold for 5-1 and move within a game of victory, Eala watched Cirstea rattle off three straight games to tighten the set. But the Filipino held to love one final time, sealing the win with a forehand winner -- just as she did against Paolini the day before.

Here are the numbers to know from her third-round triumph:

1: With her first win over Cirstea, Eala became the first Filipino to reach the Dubai quarterfinals since the tournament’s inception in 2001.

2: She advances to her second WTA 1000 quarterfinal, following her semifinal run in Miami last season.

3: Since the format’s introduction in 2009, Eala is just the third Asian player to reach multiple WTA 1000 quarterfinals before turning 21, joining Naomi Osaka and Zheng Qinwen.

7: Match win streak snapped. Eala ended Cirstea’s seven-match win streak, which stretched back to her title run in Cluj-Napoca.

9: Breaks points generated by Eala. She applied constant pressure to Cirstea’s serve and converted four of those chances across two sets.

Fun fact: The 15-year, 46-day age gap between Eala and Cirstea is the largest between two opponents from the Round of 16 onward at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships since the event began in 2001.