Eala clashes with dangerous veteran

Alta Sports2 months ago · 819 views

Eala clashes with dangerous veteran image

Photo by Christopher Pike/Getty Images

By Shawn De Guzman

Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala faces another tough test, this time, against upset-conscious veteran Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the Round of 16 of the 2026 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old Eala was off to a rousing start in the WTA500 tournament, sweeping Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey, 6-4, 6-3, and she’s looking to continue her momentum when she vies for a quarterfinals spot against the 31-year-old Sasnovich.

Game time is yet to be determined though the Filipina sensation is expected to get her hands full against Sasnovich, who had a career-high ranking of No. 29 but currently ranked No. 109 in the world.

This will be the first time that Eala and Sasnovich will face each other.

Sasnovich is fresh from pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the tournaments so far when she took down eighth seed Paula Badosa, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

However, it’s been a roller-coaster tournament so far for Sasnovich, who had to go through the qualifying rounds to reach the main draw. She defeated Priscilla Hon of Australia, 7-5,6-7(3),6-3 in her first match before losing to Sonay Kartal, 6-2, 6-4.

Sasnovich, however, still earned a spot in the main draw as a lucky loser after Jessica Bouzas Maneiro had to withdraw from the tournament due to an injury.

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