After her stunning victory over World No. 2 Elena Rybakina, Alex Eala set her sights on another major upset on Friday.
The Filipina tennis sensation delivered once again, defeating World No. 8 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, 6-3, 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 Berlin Tennis Open.
Svitolina, a former World No. 3, has been one of the most consistent players on the WTA Tour this season.
She entered the match tied with Mirra Andreeva and Jessica Pegula for the third-best winning percentage on tour at 80-percent. Only World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and World No. 12 Marta Kostyuk held better records.
Eala immediately put Svitolina under pressure, breaking the Ukrainian in the second game to race to a 3-0 lead in the opening set.
Svitolina got on the board in the fourth game and later threatened to seize momentum when she broke Eala in the seventh game to cut the deficit to 4-3.
The 21-year-old Filipina, however, quickly regained control. Eala responded with another break in the eighth game before serving out the set after 33 minutes of play.
Eala maintained her aggressive approach in the second set, breaking Svitolina in the opening game and moving ahead 2-0.
Svitolina, who won the WTA 250 ASB Classic in New Zealand and the WTA 1000 Italian Open this year, refused to go away quietly and battled back to level the set at 2-2.
But Eala answered emphatically, securing breaks in the fifth and seventh games to move within a game of victory at 5-2.
Svitolina mounted one final push, winning the next two games to narrow the gap to 5-4.
Eala, however, would not be denied. She closed out the match after one hour and 23 minutes to secure the biggest semifinal berth of her professional career.
The Filipina star advances to the semifinals on Saturday, where she will get another shot at World No. 13 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic.
Noskova previously dominated Eala in the Round of 16 of the WTA 1000 Indian Wells tournament last March, winning 6-2, 6-0.
