Eala tops Sakkari in rain-impacted semifinal to set Hong Kong final against Liu

All hail the towel crew!

While Alexandra Eala and Maria Sakkari put on a show during their Hong Kong semifinal Saturday, the towel crew emerged as the unlikely MVPs, as spot showers repeatedly interrupted play before Eala prevailed 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in 2 hours, 43 minutes.

Hong Kong: Scores | Order of play | Draws

"It was just blank," Eala said of her rain-delay mindset during her on-court interview. "It was a lot of patience, but a lot, a lot, a lot of focus. It gave me time to really focus in on the next points, but I'm really happy that I was able to come out of that a better player."

Despite the fragmented nature of the match, the outcome was unchanged. Eala advanced to her third career WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz final and second of 2026. She will face Claire Liu, who is into her first final since Rabat 2022 after the American ended the dream run of Alexandra Shubladze earlier in the day with a 7-5, 6-4 victory in 1 hour, 58 minutes.

Eala and Liu have met only once before, with Liu rallying from a set down to win in Guangzhou last year. Here's how both players reached the championship match.

Eala withstands pair of Sakkari rallies in show of strength

To Sakkari's credit, she was never truly out of the match, regardless of what the scoreline suggested. After dropping the first 10 points and falling behind 3-1 in the opening set, she twice erased a break deficit to claim a 5-4 lead.

Eala responded with three straight games to capture the set.

The second set unfolded in reverse, with Sakkari racing to a 3-0 advantage. At that point, another brief rain delay halted play, and It's Raining Men by The Weather Girls blared through the speakers as the towel crew returned to work.

That became the story of the set. A few points would be played before another stoppage followed. Eventually, the players completed what the commentator described as "a set dominated by rain," with Sakkari maintaining enough control to force a decider.

The third set closely resembled the first. Eala surged ahead 4-1 after a love hold, but Sakkari had one more push left.

The former World No. 3 saved two break points to hold for 4-2, converted her second break-point opportunity to pull within 4-3 and saved two more break points before blasting a backhand winner to level the set at 4-4.

Yet again, Eala had an answer.

She steadied herself in the next game, then watched Sakkari double-fault to bring up match point. Sakkari saved the first one, but a few points later her last-ditch comeback attempt ended when her backhand found the net, sending Eala into the final.

More to come...