Back-to-back top-10 wins and a hand-over-face moment of disbelief: Alexandra Eala (No 35) beat Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-4 to reach the Berlin semi-finals on debut, the sixth top-10 win of her career at just 21.
Filipino Alexandra Eala backed up her stunning upset of Elena Rybakina with another, beating Ukrainian sixth seed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-4 on Friday evening to reach the semi-finals of the Berlin Tennis Open on her tournament debut.
The 21-year-old, ranked No 35, has been the story of the week. Having knocked out second seed Rybakina in the previous round, she claimed a second top-10 scalp in succession – the sixth such win of her young career – and reached the fourth tour-level semi-final of her career. It also moved her to the brink of a notable feat: beating multiple top-10 players at a single event for the second time, after she took out Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys at Miami in 2025.
Against Svitolina, Eala controlled the match from the front, taking the opening set 6-3 and holding her nerve in the second to close it out 6-4. She had reached the last eight by beating last week’s Queen’s Club champion Donna Vekic (7-5, 6-4) before her victory over Rybakina, a run that began on a grass-court swing in which she won the WTA 125 title in Birmingham.
Eala was warm in her assessment of an opponent she has long admired. “Elina is a huge fighter and I’ve seen it many times. I’ve been watching her since I was a kid, so to be able to compete with her today is such an honour,” she said. “She’s a mother, and I find her to act with such elegance and strength. I’m really lucky to have had this match today.
Svitolina, ranked No 8, had reached the quarter-finals by beating German Eva Lys (6-3, 6-2) and Russian Anna Kalinskaya, who retired when trailing 6-1, 4-1. Eala will next face Czech eighth seed Linda Noskova for a place in the final.
In the other semi-final, Eala or Noskova will meet the winner of a heavyweight all-decided-on-the-day clash between top seed Aryna Sabalenka and American third seed Jessica Pegula. Sabalenka reached the last four for a second straight year by recovering from 6-2, 4-0 down against Nikola Bartunkova to win 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 in two hours and 23 minutes, a third comeback from a set down this season.
Pegula, the 2024 Berlin champion, came through an all-American quarter-final against Madison Keys 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8) to move 3-2 ahead in their head-to-head. Sabalenka leads Pegula 9-3 overall but has never gone beyond the semi-finals in five previous visits to Berlin.
Philippines
Ukraine
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