Prozorova stuns Eala in marathon Singapore comeback for first Top 20 win

World No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova stunned No. 3 seed Alexandra Eala in a marathon Singapore Tennis Open second round, coming from a set and 4-2 down to advance to her first WTA quarterfinal 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in 3 hours and 9 minutes. The result was the 22-year-old's first career Top 20 win.

Indeed, Prozorova had only won three tour-level matches prior to Thursday's contest -- at Palermo 2023 and Memphis this July. She had just one previous Top 50 win under her belt, over Tatjana Maria in the second round of the Manila WTA 125 event in January, but struck nearly double Eala's total of winners -- 52 to the Filipina's 24 -- to score a career-best victory. She'll face Wang Xinyu in the last eight after the Chinese player came from 4-1 down in the first set to defeat qualifier Joanna Garland 7-5, 6-4.

The result was Washington champion Eala's first loss to a player ranked outside the Top 100 in exactly a year -- since her loss in last September's Jingshan WTA 125 semifinals to then-No. 146 Lulu Sun.

"Honestly, I don't have any words right now to describe my emotions, my feelings," Prozorova said in her on-court interview. "Wow -- I just did it! I just believed in myself 'til the end. I knew that she will fight. I also will be fighting 'til the end. That's what I just did, and it worked."

Prozorova has had to battle from a set and a break down in both of her matches this week. In the first round, she also trailed Sofia Costoulas by a set and 4-2 before pulling through 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-2 in 2 hours and 51 minutes. 

Asked where her fighting spirit came from, Prozorova attributed it to her pre-match sugar intake.

"I ate a lot of desserts today," she joked. "Maybe it also told me, 'Hey, c'mon, let's go, fight!'"

Sweet treats aside, how did Prozorova pull off the win?

Set one: Eala shows grit to overturn early deficit

Prozorova enjoyed a positive start, showing off clean hitting and smooth movement and going toe-to-toe with Eala in just her third career meeting with a Top 20 opponent. By contrast, Eala was uncharacteristically generous with her mistakes, and netted a forehand to drop serve and go down 3-1.

Eala's competitive grit has been one of the 21-year-old's signatures as she's risen through the ranks this year, and it came to the fore in the set's two most extraordinary multi-deuce tussles. She came up with a full-stretch dig, a drop shot and a powerful return en route to breaking Prozorova back in the next game, the start of a four-game run as unforced errors -- 26 in total in the first set -- began to flow from the lower-ranked player's racquet.

Eala then battled through eight deuces, with neither player able to produce their best tennis, in the final game of the set, converting her seventh set point with a sliding serve out wide.

Set two: Prozorova's turn to come from behind

Despite her collapse in form in the first set, Prozorova was able to gather herself in the second. But Eala's level had also risen; striking the ball with renewed aggression, particularly on return, she broke twice and advanced to a 4-2 lead.

Eala even held a point for a 5-2 double break, only for Prozorova to come up with a backhand winner down the line -- one of her best shots of the match, and one that would turn it in her favor. From that moment on, Prozorova delivered consistent, confident offensive tennis to seize the momentum. Unlike in the first set, she did not allow either her errors or Eala's winners to tilt it away from her.

The final game of the second set encapsulated this. Eala saved the first set point against her with a forehand screamer down the line -- the kind of shot that could have wrested control back for the seeded player. Prozorova responded with a pair of brilliantly placed forehand winners, and converted her second set point as Eala sent a forehand wide.

Set three: Prozorova tussles for supremacy, then pulls away

Momentum swung back and forth between the two players at the start of the second set -- Prozorova took an early 2-0 lead, only for Eala to strike back with a three-game run to lead 3-2 with a break. But though the quality was high off the ground from both, Eala's serve was beginning to let her down, she was hampered by three double faults in the first half of the set, and Prozorova leveled at 3-3.

The set's pivotal mini-marathon came at this juncture on Prozorova's serve. She played some of her boldest and most emphatic tennis in this game to stave off four break points, come through six deuces and ultimately hold with her only ace of the set. Once that test had been passed, Prozorova would not be denied -- she surged to the finishing line in another flurry of winners, sealing her first match point with a perfect forehand crosscourt.