Tennis: Alex Eala battles past Valentová to reach q’finals in Hong Kong

MANILA (UPDATED) — Alex Eala had to dig deep before clinching her spot in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Hong Kong Tennis Open on Thursday evening.

The Filipina tennis star was pushed all the way by world no. 85 Tereza Valentová, but Eala found the answers at the right time to take a 6-4, 7-6 (7) victory at Victoria Park against the Czech player.

It was also a much-needed breakthrough for world no. 17 Eala, who had lost her first two meetings against Valentová — at Osaka in 2025 and earlier this year in Doha.

“Laban. Laban,” Eala said when asked to describe the match. “It was so tough. It was really, really tough. I think Tereza played incredibly, and we were able to bring the match to a really high level.

“I think that was reflected on the scores. I’m really happy with that win. I think I escaped by a little bit,” the second-seed added.

A tough hold in the opening game set the tone of the match, as Eala had to claw her way back from two break points to fend off Valentová. She broke the 19-year-old for a 2-0 lead and navigated another tricky hold to stay in control, before Valentová finally got on the board, 3-1.

A hold to love by Eala put her up 4-1 and seemingly shifted momentum on her side. But Valentová came alive, winning three straight games as Eala ran into trouble with her serve.

Valentová threatened to take control in the ninth game, where she twice reached break point. But she could not get over the hump: she sent back-to-back backhands into the net to shift the lead back to Eala, 5-4.

This time around Eala took care of business, holding to love to take the opener. 

Valentová surged ahead in a back-and-forth second set, 5-3, before a clutch hold by Eala kept her in the fight. She broke Valentová in the next game, benefiting from her opponent’s errors, then came through in another nervy game for a 6-5 lead. Valentová sent a forehand wide to put Eala on the brink, and the Filipina obliged with a ferocious volley to take the game.

But Valentová did not go easily, holding for 6-6 and sending the set into a tiebreak. There, Eala surged to a 5-0 lead and appeared to be on her way to victory, but Valentová reeled off four straight points to stay alive. A forehand winner by Eala gave her two match points — only for the Filipina to send a backhand wide, and then shockingly fire a routine forehand long for 6-6.

A clever shot at the net gave Eala another match point, but Eala then sent her next shot awry for a 7-7 count.

Valentová, however, could not make Eala pay for her errors. The Czech’s own lob was off the mark, and Eala answered at the fourth time of asking with a sharp forehand down the line to wrap up the match in an hour and 56 minutes.

“It was a long second set, long tiebreak, for sure,” said Eala. “[I was] just focusing on the next point.”

“The previous two meetings [against Valentová] were super difficult, so I knew it was going to be a tough battle. I just tried to be better than the previous time that we met,” she also said.

Up next for Eala is a quarterfinal showdown against Croatia’s Antonia Ružić. 

World no. 81 Ružić advanced after beating China’s sixth seed Xin Wang, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, in their own second round match-up.