Alex Eala battles past Gibson, advances to q'finals in Tokyo

MANILA, October 29 ------ Filipina tennis star Alex Eala showed impressive grit in battling back from a frustrating start to defeat Australia's Talia Gibson, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, in the round-of-16 of the 2026 Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

The Filipina ace endured a slow start and struggled to deal with Gibson's serve in the opener, but grew into the match and eventually dominated the deciding frame. With the result, Eala is now headed to the quarterfinal where she will play Russia's Diana Shnaider, the world No. 13. "I think [the key was] really staying in the match, never giving up. The first set was difficult [but] I had my chances. So I knew that if I kept my concentration, I would have more chances," world No. 19 Eala said after her triumph.

After exchanging holds in the first seven games, the 22-year-old Gibson claimed the breakthrough in the eighth, breaking Eala to move ahead, 5-3. Eala broke back immediately, forcing the Australian into a series of errors on her forehand to stay in the match. But the breaks went Gibson's way in the next game. Eala dumped back-to-back shots into the net to put Gibson at set point, and the Australian got a lucky bounce when her forehand caught the net cord and dropped onto Eala's side of the court.

Eala battled back in the second set, immediately breaking Gibson in the first game and then scoring a crucial hold for a 2-0 advantage. She broke Gibson again for a 5-2 lead, and then saved a break point to wrap up the second set and send the match to a decider. It was all Eala in the third, though the Australian showed great fight in the sixth game. Gibson forced three deuces, but then committed back-to-back errors as Eala closed out the match in an hour and 53 minutes.

The Filipina fired nine aces in the match, and eventually found her way against her opponent's first serve — eventually breaking Gibson six times. The 21-year-old said the turnaround had been "a gradual increase of level". "Maybe just a couple of small details that when accumulated make a big difference," she said. "In one 30-all I went more for my shot or in one deuce I did so and so. "Those little details when all summed up, that's the difference."

After the match, Eala expressed her appreciation for the flag-waving Filipino fans at the venue, even noting that there were more people in the stands that evening. "Of course the support helps a lot all the time," said Eala. "It creates a great atmosphere and I think there was a bit of back and forth within the crowd. "You want to be present, you're very invested in the match so it comes naturally to focus."

Eala will now seek to turn the tables on Shnaider, who defeated her when they played in the Ningbo Open recently. Shnaider beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 to book her place in the quarter-finals. "I'm very happy with overall my emotions on the court, even though sometimes there were ups and downs. But still, I found myself the way to the victory," Shnaider said. "I'm trying to still understand myself more. Where I need to push, where I need to stay calm, where I need to find the emotions to pump myself up. But I feel that today I did pretty good," she added.

World number one Elena Rybakina plays her opening match on Thursday when she takes on fellow Kazakh Yulia Putintseva. Home favorite Naomi Osaka is also in action against Slovakian wild card Mia Pohankova.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com