SINGAPORE – Alex Eala suffered one of the most shocking defeats of her young professional career after absorbing a heartbreaking 6-4, 5-7, 3-6 setback to Tatiana Prozorova of Russia in the Round of 16 of the Singapore Tennis Open late Thursday at the jampacked OCBC Arena at The Kallang here.

Ranging against an unseeded foe that has practically nothing to lose, the 21-year-old Filipina rallied from an early deficit but couldn’t contain her momentum en route to a sorry loss that sent her crashing out of this prestigious Women’s Tennis Association-rated 500 event.

She completed the victory in three hours and nine minutes, making it one of the longest and most exciting matches in the tournament.

Prozorova, who entered the tournament as world No. 165, said she did nothing special other than matching Eala’s power and making sure to come up with answers every time the Filipina tried to make her move.

“Honestly, I don’t have any words right now to describe my emotions, my feelings, but wow, I did it – I just did it,” the 22-year-old netter from Moscow said during her post-match interview.

When asked how she did it, Prozorova couldn’t provide a definite answer as she savors one o the most special victories in her career.

“How did I do it? I don’t know,” she said before a jam-packed arena composed mainly of a predominantly Filipino crowd, some of them taking a four-hour flight from Manila just to see Eala in action.

“I just believe in myself until the end, and I knew that she would fight hard as well. I was also prepared to fight until the end, and that’s what I did. I’m glad that it worked.”

True enough, Prozorova didn’t just simply outclass the popular Filipina. She also outworked and outhustled her until she fell out of her comfort zone in the early goings of the third set.

With the third set score tied at 3, Prozorova engaged Eala in a furious exchanged that left the Filipina visibly frustrated. Then, she scored on a forehand for the match point before watching Eala crumble to pressure with an error to complete the upset.

Upon scoring her final point, Prozorova raised her arms in jubilation, much to the delight of the crowd that appreciated the grit and hard work that she displayed from start to finish.

“I’m so grateful to everybody who came out to support us today,” said Russian, who admitted that she was prepared to come home upon knowing that Eala will be at the opposite side of the net. But instead of catching the next flight out of the Lion City, she will extend her stay at least until this weekend as she punched a quarterfinal ticket against world No. 40 Wang Xinyu of China.

“It was really tough against Eala. Well, not just against Alexandra, but also against her fans who came out to see us play today.”