Eala completes comeback, books Abu Dhabi Open quarterfinals seat

Alex Eala's magical run in the Abu Dhabi Open is far from over as she pulled off a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory over Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in the Round of 16 of the women's singles early Thursday (Manila time) at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre.

Eala had to dig deep and hung on for two hours and 51 minutes to before she completed the comeback and booked a spot in the quarterfinals.

"These kinds of matches in particular are the ones that stick with you. I've had a lot of them in the past year so I'm really happy with this win," Eala said.

The world No. 45 netter clawed backe from a 2-5 hole in the third set as she came out on top.

Eala will next face world No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia on Thursday at 9 p.m. at the same venue.

The second seed Alexandrova will be Eala's biggest test in this Women's Tennis Association 500 tournament after she defeated Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, 6-3, 6-0.