(UPDATE) MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala stunned world no. 8 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, 6-1, 7-6(5), to enter the third round (round of 16) of the Dubai Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates early Wednesday in Manila.
World no. 47 Eala unleashed a dominating first set performance with strong service game and then dug deep in the second frame tiebreak to defeat the 2024 tournament champ.
This is Eala's third victory against a top 10 player after Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek at the Miami Open last year.
Eala, who previously reached a career-high world No. 40, will next battle Sorana Cirstea of Romania, who eliminated No. 10 seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-4.
Meanwhile, top seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan downed Kimberly Birrell of Australia, 6-1, 6-2, to advance against Antonia Ruzic of Croatia, who rallied past Anastasia Zakharova of Russia, 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-1.
Second seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States walked over Barbora Krejcikova of Czech Republic to advance against Indonesian Janice Tjen, who pulled off a 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory over Canadian Leylah Fernandez.
Magda Linette of Poland shocked No. 8 Ekaterina Alexandrova, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, to reach the third round. She will battle No. 12 Clara Tauson of Denmark, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Peyton Stearns of the US.
Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula also secured seats to the round of 16.
No. 3 Gauff defeated Anna Kalinskaya, 6-4, 6-4, to advance against Elise Mertens of Belgium, who stunned No. 14 Emma Navarro of the US, 6-2, 6-2.
No. 4 Pegula trounced Varvara Gracheva of France, 6-4, 6-0, to set up a meeting with compatriot Iva Jovic, who survived Diana Shnaider, 6-4, 1-6, 6-0.
Other winners were No. 5 Meera Andreeva, No. 7 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, No. 9 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Jaqueline Cristian of Romania.