Dynamic Diana: Shnaider sends Eala packing after 3 hours

Alex Eala came close to turning the tables on world No. 13 Diana Shnaider of Russia but fell short, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 4-6, in the quarterfinal of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Friday.

The world No. 19 Filipina battled for two hours and 52 minutes but failed to overcome Shnaider for the second time in as many weeks, following her 5-7, 4-6 loss to the Russian in the Ningbo Open in China.

Despite securing another victory over Eala, the 22-year-old Shnaider admitted she was pushed to her limits in this Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 500 tournament.

“Honestly, I feel like this match deserved to be a final. It was an insane level of tennis from both of us. I didn’t believe I would be able to pull off that win because she played incredibly well,” Shnaider said.

“But I kept reminding myself to fight for every point. As you can see from the score, the second set was very tight. So, yeah, I just kept fighting for every point, and that paid off.”

Unlike their previous encounter in Ningbo, the quarterfinal proved to be a tightly contested affair, with Eala showing she could match the Russian throughout the nearly three-hour battle.

Eala recovered from an early deficit in the opening set, winning five of the next

six games and breaking Shnaider’s serve twice to seize control. The Filipina then held serve to close out the set, 6-2.

The second set turned into a battle of service games, with neither player managing a break as they headed into a tiebreak.

Shnaider built a 4-2 lead before Eala fought back to level the count at 5-5. The Russian regained the advantage at 6-5 and converted her next point to take the tiebreak, 7-5, and force a deciding set.

The two traded holds early in the third before Shnaider broke Eala in the third game and consolidated the break for a 3-1 lead.

Eala held serve in the fifth game before taking a medical timeout, but Shnaider maintained her advantage even after play resumed.

The Filipina refused to give in, holding serve twice to stay within reach at 4-5. Shnaider, however, held firm in the 10th game and sealed the victory with an ace.

Eala earned $33,475, or around P2.1 million, for reaching the quarterfinals after defeating world No. 411 Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain and world No. 38 Talia Gibson of Australia.

She is also expected to return to her career-best ranking of No. 18 in the coming days and is scheduled to compete next at the Hong Kong Tennis Open, which begins on 2 November.

Eala is also slated to return to the Philippines on 8 December for her exhibition match against world No. 47 Janice Tjen of Indonesia at the Philippine Arena.