Eala goes extra mile in beating Valentova

Alex Eala was pleased with how she handled the pressure after beating world No. 85 Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 7-6, to reach the quarterfinal of the Hong Kong Tennis Open.

The 21-year-old Filipina admitted she needed considerable mental strength to overcome Valentova, who had beaten her in the first round of the Japan Women’s Open last year and the Qatar Open in February.

“I think you could see in my reaction that the win was amazing,” Eala said.

“I really had to fight through it, especially with the chances I had in the second set and to close out the match. As I mentioned before, it took a lot of mental strength to do that, stay in the match and remain present.”

Eala was facing world No. 81 Antonia Ruzic of Croatia in the quarterfinals of the WTA 250 tournament at press time.

After spending nearly two hours on court against Valentova, Eala said she remained focused on giving her best despite the physical demands of a long season.

“When you face opponents like Tereza, who are just as motivated and just as ganado as you are to win, you’ll give everything you have physically and mentally,” she said.

“At the end of the day, I’m an athlete. So yeah, I get tired, I recover, and then I go back and do it again. It’s a constant effort to do it again and again and again and again, no matter whether you’re tired or feel like you can climb Mount Everest.”

Eala is hoping to close out her season with another title after winning the Washington Open last August.

She is also scheduled to face world No. 75 Janice Tjen of Indonesia in an exhibition match on 8 December at the Philippine Arena.