By MARK REY MONTEJO
Everyone was expecting a slam-bang affair and drama where fortune swings like a pendulum.
Sadly, Alex Eala played her worst game at a time when she was up against a top-tier opponent – a two-time Grand Slam winner at that.
So in front of her misty-eyed fans – most of them Pinoy expats – Eala absorbed a crushing 0-6, 2-6 loss at the hands of world No. 4 American Coco Gauff in a defeat that ended her fairytale run the WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championships at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre in UAE early Friday, Feb. 20 (Philippine time).
Unable to produce the brilliance that saw her topple three fancied rivals, including world No. 8 Jasmine Paolini in the round of 32, Eala was reduced to tears in the opening set of their quarterfinal duel after being overpowered in all facets of the match.
But fans came alive and began chanting Eala’s name in the second set when the Filipina ace showed some semblance of a fightback when she snapped Gauff’s 10-game winning streak.
The cheers became louder and wilder when Eala took the 6th game.
It turned out to be a brief change of tempo as Gauff, who shrugged off her unforced errors and eight double faults, then stormed back and secured the next two games to close out the match in 1 hour and seven minutes.
With the convincing win, Gauff now faces battle-tested Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who ruled the competition twice (2017, ‘18), in the semis after the latter hacked out a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 quarters win over Croatian Antonia Ružić..
It also sort of gave Gauff a chance to redeem herself on Dubai soil after suffering a round of 32 exit last year after a 4-6, 5-7 loss to her compatriot McCartney Kessler.
“Yeah, I was a bit better today. I could have served a little bit better, but I made it in when it mattered,” said Gauff.
Still, Gauff heaped praises on Eala.
“Alex is a tough competitor and even when I was up, I knew that she could come back at any given moment. I’ve seen her do it before,” she added.
Eala, on the other hand, wrapped up her Middle East swing — that included her stints in the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi and the WTA 1000 Qatar Opens — on a historic note as she reached the quarters despite being her first time in the Dubai meet.
The current No. 47 made heads turn despite being unseeded as Eala managed to overcome American Hailey Baptiste, 6-4, 0-1 (ret) in the opening round before following it up with a stunning 6-1, 7-6(7) upset against Paolini.
Eala then exacted her revenge on Romanian Sorana Cirstea, 7-5, 6-4, in Last 16 prior to her fate to Gauff in the quarters.
“At the end of the day, I think there’s definitely still a gap in terms of level between me and Coco and other players of her caliber,” Eala said in her post-match press conference. “My job is to try and close that gap, and I think I’m doing that quite well. So I’ll keep working on it and hopefully next time it will be a bit tighter.”
Those victories may put Eala back within Top 40 or possibly further that could better her career-high of No. 40 in the rankings.
Meanwhile, American No. 6 Amanda Anisimova eliminated reigning champion No. 7 Russian wunderkind Mirra Andreeva, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7) and forged a semis meeting with her fellow US bet Jessica Pegula, who outlasted Danish Clara Tauson, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
