Birth of a grass specialist? Eala downs Svitolina for a second straight top-10 win and a place in the Berlin semi-finals
Back-to-back top-10 wins and a hand-over-face moment of disbelief: Alexandra Eala (No 35) beat Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-4 to reach the Berlin semi-finals on debut, the sixth top-10 win of her career at just 21.
Alexandra Eala, Berlin 2026 | © Imago / PsNewz
Filipino Alexandra Eala backed up her stunning upset of Elena Rybakina with another, beating Ukrainian sixth seed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-4 on Friday evening to reach the semi-finals of the Berlin Tennis Open on her tournament debut.
The 21-year-old, ranked No 35, has been the story of the week. Having knocked out second seed Rybakina in the previous round, she claimed a second top-10 scalp in succession – the sixth such win of her young career – and reached the fourth tour-level semi-final of her career. It also moved her to the brink of a notable feat: beating multiple top-10 players at a single event for the second time, after she took out Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys at Miami in 2025.
Eala : “lucky”
Against Svitolina, Eala controlled the match from the front, taking the opening set 6-3 and holding her nerve in the second to close it out 6-4. She had reached the last eight by beating last week’s Queen’s Club champion Donna Vekic (7-5, 6-4) before her victory over Rybakina, a run that began on a grass-court swing in which she won the WTA 125 title in Birmingham.
Eala was warm in her assessment of an opponent she has long admired. “Elina is a huge fighter and I’ve seen it many times. I’ve been watching her since I was a kid, so to be able to compete with her today is such an honour,” she said. “She’s a mother, and I find her to act with such elegance and strength. I’m really lucky to have had this match today.
Svitolina, ranked No 8, had reached the quarter-finals by beating German Eva Lys (6-3, 6-2) and Russian Anna Kalinskaya, who retired when trailing 6-1, 4-1. Eala will next face Czech eighth seed Linda Noskova for a place in the final.
Sabalenka – Pegula the other semi-final
In the other semi-final, Eala or Noskova will meet the winner of a heavyweight all-decided-on-the-day clash between top seed Aryna Sabalenka and American third seed Jessica Pegula. Sabalenka reached the last four for a second straight year by recovering from 6-2, 4-0 down against Nikola Bartunkova to win 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 in two hours and 23 minutes, a third comeback from a set down this season.
Pegula, the 2024 Berlin champion, came through an all-American quarter-final against Madison Keys 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8) to move 3-2 ahead in their head-to-head. Sabalenka leads Pegula 9-3 overall but has never gone beyond the semi-finals in five previous visits to Berlin.
