Alex Eala battled into the quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Open after a tight straight-sets win over Tereza Valentova on Thursday.

Eala started the match in strong fashion, breaking the 19-year-old’s serve at the first time of asking. However, the Filipina, who received the lion’s share of support from the crowd, was broken back midway through the opener.

Valentova had chances to break Eala’s serve at 4-4 but the left-hander held firm, managed to hold serve, and then broke to take the first set 6-4 in 42 minutes.

The teenager would have been kicking herself after taking just 1/9 break points in that set, while Eala took both of her break point opportunities.

Both players exchanged breaks midway through the second set, before the world no 84 pulled clear to close to within one game of taking the match to a decider.

More Alex Eala News

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.

However, the Czech youngster lost her composure and was broken at 5-4. The duo headed for a tiebreak, where Eala raced into a 5-0 lead to the delight of those in the stands.

Nerves began to fray when Valentova roared back to make it 4-5, before the world No 17 powered a backhand return for a blistering winner to bring up a first match point.

Two match points came and went in bizarre fashion, as the Washington Open champion made a real mess of what looked to be a simple put away. Finally, after one hour and 54 minutes of gripping action, Eala took her fourth match point to win 6-4, 7-6 (7).

She said in her post-match on-court interview, “It was tough, it was really, really tough. I think Tereza played incredibly and we were able to bring the match to a really high level, and I think that was reflected in the score. Really happy with that win; I think I escaped a little bit.

“I don’t really know [how I held off her fightback in the tiebreak]. It was a long second set and tiebreak but [I was] just focusing on the next point.”

Heading into this match, Eala was 0-2 against Valentova. When asked if she had a different strategy for their third meeting, the 21-year-old took it in her stride.

She replied, “Of course, you don’t go into battle without a plan! The previous two meetings were super difficult, so I knew this was going to be a tough battle. I just tried to be better than the previous time we met.

“Thank you guys [the crowd] so much, and I will see you all in the quarters!”

In the quarter-finals of this WTA 250 event, Eala will face Croatian Antonia Ruzic, who has a career-high of 50 but is currently 76th in the world.

Eala stays at No 17 in the world but if she makes it to the semi-finals, she will jump to a career-high ranking of 16 at Naomi Osaka’s expense. So far, she has earned £5,216 and 54 ranking points.

GO DEEPER: Grand Slam winner reveals why Alex Eala’s rise is her favourite tennis story of 2026