Eala stuns Rybakina to reach the Berlin quarter-finals on debut

Filipino Alexandra Eala produced the upset of her week on Thursday evening, knocking out Kazakh second seed Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the Berlin Tennis Open on her tournament debut.

The 21-year-old, ranked No 35, recovered from an early deficit to match the best win of her career by ranking. Rybakina opened in blistering form, firing three aces in the first game and racing to a 4-1 lead, but Eala steadied herself by keeping her error count low and forcing the Kazakh into mistakes.

She broke back with a backhand winner down the line, levelled at 4-4 with a pair of aces, and took the opening set when Rybakina’s 23rd unforced error followed a saved set point.

A backhand pass helped Eala break early in the second set, and though Rybakina saved three break points to hold for 3-2, the Filipino held her nerve, producing a crosscourt forehand winner she rated among her best shots of the night to move within a game of victory. Rybakina saved one match point and held to force Eala to serve it out; from 15-30 down, Eala struck her fourth ace and sealed the win on the next Rybakina error after one hour and 32 minutes.

“I am a little foggy right now,” Eala said in her on-court interview. “I’m still shaking, and I was shaking on match point, too.” She put the turnaround down to a single quality. “For me returning, and my game in general, a highlight word would be brave,” she said. “It makes a big difference when I’m able to do that.”

It was the second meeting between the pair, levelling their head-to-head at one win apiece, and Eala’s fifth career top-10 victory – all in straight sets, four of them against top-five opponents. She had reached the last 16 by beating Croatian Donna Vekic (7-5, 6-4), and next faces Ukrainian sixth seed Elina Svitolina for a place in the semi-finals.