Alex Eala shook off a slow start to storm back and defeat Australia’s Talia Gibson, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, and book her place in the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open on Wednesday at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan.
Eala will next face Russian seventh seed Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals, setting up a rematch of their Round of 16 encounter at the Ningbo Open in China last week.
Shnaider prevailed in that meeting, 7-5, 6-4, sending Eala out of the tournament.
After dropping the opening set, the Filipina bounced back emphatically, taking control of the match with increasingly aggressive play before dominating the deciding set to complete the comeback victory.
Eala found her rhythm in the second set, breaking Gibson’s serve early to seize the momentum. Despite a brief fightback from the Australian, the Filipina maintained her composure and secured another break before closing out the set, 6-2, to force a decider.
The world No. 19 then turned the third set into a one-sided affair, reeling off six consecutive games to complete the shutout.
Eala broke Gibson’s serve three times in the final set and capped her impressive performance with nine aces.
Gibson attempted to prolong the contest, battling through an extended rally in the final game to force deuce. However, Eala held firm, earning another match point before capitalizing on Gibson’s errant shot to seal the victory.
Eala opened her campaign with a victory over British teenager Mika Stojsavljevic before overcoming Gibson to advance to the last eight.
