Alex Eala is just one win away from making her second quarterfinal appearance in a WTA 1000 tournament.
But first, she must overcome a seasoned Romanian veteran who has been playing freely and winning consistently after announcing her plans to retire at the end of the 2026 season.
The world No. 47 Eala will face world No. 32 Sorana Cirstea in the final match on Center Court in the third round of the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships on Thursday at 12:10 a.m., Manila time.
Cirstea is coming off a triumph at the WTA 250 Transylvania Open just over a week ago on her home soil, where she dominated former US Open champion and top seed Emma Raducanu of Great Britain in the final, 6-0, 6-2.
The 35-year-old Romanian started the year by reaching the third round of the WTA 1000 Brisbane International, scoring straight-set victories over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia before falling to world No. 1 and eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
At the Australian Open, she defeated Eva Lys of Germany in the opening round but was stopped in the second round by former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka of Japan.
Eala, ranked No. 170 at the time, previously faced Cirstea in the first round of the 2024 WTA 1000 Madrid Open.
The Romanian, then ranked 30th, edged out the 18-year-old Filipina in a hard-fought match, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4.
Cirstea is known for her blistering serves, recorded as fast as 175 km/h, and her powerful forehand.
At her peak, she can overwhelm opponents with her strength and aggressive style of play.
Eala, meanwhile, is slowly building a reputation for having one of the most resilient defenses on the pro tour.
To succeed, she will need to stay alert and retrieve Cirstea’s attacking groundstrokes consistently.
If the young Filipina can showcase her signature scrambling returns and extend rallies, she stands a chance of frustrating Cirstea, who can become erratic when she is unable to hit quick winners.
Both players have impressed in Dubai so far. Eala advanced with straight-set wins over recent WTA Abu Dhabi semifinalist Hailey Baptiste of the United States and world No. 8 Jasmine Paolini of Italy.
Cirstea, for her part, defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus and 10th seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic.
The winner of the Eala-Cirstea clash will advance to the quarterfinals to face the victor of the match between world No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States and world No. 22 Elise Mertens of Belgium.
