Alex Eala delivered a ruthless masterclass to stun No. 6 Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) on the WTA Tour Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday, she added another big name to her growing list of impressive wins.
Paolini, the runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon in 2024, is the third top 10 player to be defeated by Eala, joining Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys – both of whom stunned the 20-year-old Filipina during her breakthrough performance at the Miami Open last year.
The players held serve through the first three matches before Eala broke in the fourth; the Filipina didn’t look back and played through the remaining games of the set – including another break in the sixth. Her improved serve, an important weapon, created an aggressive base game and kept Paolini on the defensive.
The numbers told the story of her dominance as Eala won 86% of her first serve points to finish with a 7-2 lead among the winners.
Paolini won the first game of the second set before Eala also held serve and then broke again in the third game of what would become a seesaw bracket.
The Italian, the 2024 Dubai champion, fought back and claimed her first break of the match to take the second set at 3-3. Eala immediately broke back and held serve in the eighth game to take a 5–3 lead.
Paolini held serve and broke Eala when the Filipina served for the match, saving three match points. The Italian took advantage of mounting pressure on Eala to lead 6-5, but the Filipina remained calm in the 12th game and held serve to force a tiebreak.
The players traded mini-breaks to 4-4 before Eala tightened her first serve and dictated the longer rallies. The Filipina won the key exchanges down the stretch to close out the match and complete the straight sets victory.
Eala will next play world number 32 Sorana Cirstea of ​​Romania in the round of 16.
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