Eala Valentova quarterfinal stakes are set: win and the Filipino second seed books a second straight WTA quarterfinal. Alex Eala faces Czech Tereza Valentova in the second round of the WTA250 Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium.
Eala Valentova quarterfinal at stake
Valentova is 19 and ranked No. 85. Eala, 21, is the second seed in Hong Kong. The winner moves into the last eight.
Valentova's two wins over Eala
Valentova beat Eala in straight sets at the Japan Open last year and again at the Qatar Open this year. Those two results sit inside a wider pattern that has followed Eala through her career.
Eala's long wait against Czech opponents
Eala went 0-13 against Czech opponents before finally beating Nikola Bartunkova in the final at Birmingham earlier this year. Valentova accounted for two of those defeats. Philstar.com framed the run as a "Czech curse" hounding Eala.
Parks withdrawal reshapes the first round
Eala's opener changed at short notice. Alycia Parks, No. 59, withdrew with a shoulder injury, and Emerson Jones (No. 132) came in as a last-minute replacement. Eala won 6-4, 6-3.
Workload before the Hong Kong quarterfinal push
Hong Kong is Eala's fifth straight WTA Tour stint in a month and her sixth event overall including the 20th Asian Games. She arrives from a Last 8 finish at the WTA500 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. In a separate Philstar.com report, she said her net game is "in the process of improvement."
The original report appears at philstar.com.
