Tennis: Alex Eala advances to Hong Kong Open final, outlasts Sakkari

MANILA (UPDATED) — Filipina tennis star Alex Eala is headed to the final of the 2026 Hong Kong Tennis Open after outlasting Greece’s Maria Sakkari on Saturday, in a stop-and-start affair that featured several weather delays.

Second-seeded Eala recovered from a letdown in the second set and weathered a last-ditch comeback attempt by Sakari on her way to a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory — propelling her to a second tour final this year. 

It was a difficult win for Eala, who struggled to deal with Sakkari’s serve — the Greek veteran fired 12 aces in the match after a nervy start that saw her lose the first ten points. But the Filipina’s trademark grit came to the fore in the decider, where she scored a clutch hold then broke Sakkari to finally wrap up the win.

“It was a lot of patience, a lot of focus,” said world no. 17 Eala of the match, which was delayed several times particularly in the second set due to rain. “I’m really happy that I was able to come out of that a better player.”

Eala appeared to have shrugged off the second set as she surged to a 4-1 lead in the decider, holding to love in the fifth game to take a seemingly comfortable lead.

But world no. 30 Sakkari showed her quality in a gritty hold, battling through five deuces and saving three break points to cut into the lead. Eala dumped a forehand into the net to put Sakkari on the brink, and the veteran fired an ace to make it 4-2.

From there, Sakkari pounced on an increasingly error-prone Eala to take the next two games and force a 4-4 deadlock. But the Filipina regrouped, holding comfortably in the ninth game to take a 5-4 advantage. 

It was Sakkari’s turn to succumb to errors in the tenth game, with the Greek committing a double fault — her sixth — to give Eala two match points at 15-40. Sakkari saved one thanks to a forehand winner, but her next backhand went into the net, giving Eala the hard-earned victory after two hours and 43 minutes.

“I think that in that moment, she really stepped up and brought what she needed to bring to come back,” Eala said of Sakkari’s last-ditch rally. “I tried every point to stay there and step up myself.”

It was another thrilling match for the 21-year-old Eala, who had already battled two epic affairs against Tereza Valentová in the second round and Antonia Ružić in the quarterfinals to set up the match against Sakkari.

She started off strong against Sakkari — a former world no. 3 — breaking and then holding to love for a 2-0 lead. But Sakkari grew into the match, forcing a 4-4 deadlock then gaining a clutch hold for a 5-4 lead. 

Eala took care of business on her own serve, then broke Sakkari in the next game with her forehand finding its target repeatedly. A comfortable hold ultimately gave Eala the opener.

But Sakkari found her form in the second set, surging to a 3-0 lead and dealing with several rain delays to deny Eala’s own attempts at a comeback.

She was unable to carry the momentum in the third set, however. Instead, Eala pulled away for a 3-0 advantage, and then showed great poise down the stretch to fend off the Greek veteran. 

Her reward is a second tour final this year, where she will play American Claire Liu, the world no. 102. Eala will be looking to wrap up her year with another title to add to her breakthrough in Washington.

“I think the ability and the conscious choice to stay there and be positive was a really big point of my match today and my mentality,” she said. “So [I want to] bring that… not just from Washington, but [from] everything that I’ve learned this year to try to cap it off with a good match — win or lose.”

“I’m really happy so I’m gonna try to be positive going into the final,” she added.