Alex Eala beats Tereza Valentova for the first time to reach the Hong Kong Open quarterfinals

Alex Eala beat Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-6 (7) in the Hong Kong Tennis Open round of 16, her first win over Valentova after two straight-set losses, and will face Antonia Ružić of Croatia in the quarterfinals.

Alex Eala beat Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-6 (7) in the round of 16 of the Hong Kong Tennis Open to advance to the quarterfinals, Inquirer.net reported on 5 November. It was her first win over Valentova after losing their first two meetings in straight sets.

ESPN said the match took place at Victoria Park Centre Court on Thursday evening. Eala had lost to Valentova last year in the Japan Women's Open and in the Qatar Open earlier this year, ESPN said.

How the match turned

Eala came out firing with a 4-1 lead in the first set before Valentova tied the opening set at 4-4, according to Inquirer.net. ESPN said Eala then broke Valentova to love to close out the opening set 6-4.

Valentova forced the second set into a tiebreak, but could not complete the comeback as Eala held her nerve to close out the match, Inquirer.net said. ESPN reported that Eala raced to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreak before Valentova fought back.

“I had to fight. It was really, really tough. I think Tereza played incredibly and we were able to bring the match to a really high level. And I think that was reflected in the scores,” Eala said, according to Inquirer.net.

“Of course, the previous two meetings were super difficult. So I knew it was going to be a tough battle. I just tried to be better than the previous time that we met,” Eala said of her head-to-head with Valentova.

Ružić next

Inquirer.net described Eala as the 21-year-old world No. 17 and Valentova as the world No. 85, and said Hong Kong is Eala's last tournament of the season.

Eala will face world No. 81 Antonia Ružić of Croatia in the quarterfinals, ESPN said. Ružić dispatched Wang Xinyu 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

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