Eala stuns world No. 10 Svitolina again, reaches DC Open semifinals

Alex Eala continued her remarkable run at the WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open, defeating world No. 10 Elina Svitolina, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals on Saturday morning (Philippine time) in Washington, D.C.

The victory marked Eala’s sixth career win over a Top 10 opponent in eight matches against players ranked inside the elite group this season. It was also her second straight victory over Svitolina after the Filipina defeated the Ukrainian by the same score in the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 Berlin Open in June.

The 20-year-old Eala secured her third WTA semifinal appearance of the year, joining her previous runs at the ASB Classic in Auckland and the Berlin Open.

Eala endured a tightly contested opening set that featured multiple momentum shifts. She broke Svitolina in a marathon first game that required five deuces, but the Ukrainian immediately responded with a break of her own.

The two players continued exchanging breaks before Eala gained control with a 4-2 advantage. Svitolina threatened to level the set after earning three break points at 5-3, but Eala held firm from a 0-40 deficit before breaking the former world No. 3 again to take the opening set after 43 minutes.

Svitolina started the second set strongly, taking a 2-0 lead and later extending it to 4-2. Eala, however, answered with another comeback, breaking back in the sixth game before winning four of the next five games to seize control.

With the set tied at 4-4, Eala closed out the match by taking the final two games, completing the straight-sets victory in one hour and 34 minutes.

The Filipina's Washington campaign has featured a series of high-level performances. She opened the tournament by defeating former world No. 2 and reigning Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen before eliminating defending champion Leylah Fernandez in the Round of 16.

Eala will next face third seed and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the semifinals, marking their first career meeting.