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Who is World No. 8 Elina Svitolina? Alex Eala's quarterfinal foe at the Berlin Tennis Open
Alexandra “Alex” Eala faces another tough challenge at the Berlin Tennis Open as she takes on World No. 8 Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals on Friday.
A former World No. 3, Svitolina reached a career-high ranking in 2017 and has enjoyed sustained success on the WTA Tour. The Ukrainian has reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon twice each, as well as the US Open once.
Svitolina owns 20 WTA singles titles, including the 2018 WTA Finals crown, and won the bronze medal in women’s singles at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
She advanced to the quarterfinals in Berlin after defeating Germany’s Eva Lys, 6-3, 6-2, in the Round of 16.
Eala, currently ranked World No. 35, booked her place in the last eight with a stunning 7-5, 6-4 upset of World No. 2 Elena Rybakina.
The Berlin quarterfinal will mark the first singles meeting between Eala and Svitolina. However, they previously faced each other in doubles at the ASB Classic, where Eala and Iva Jovic defeated Svitolina and Venus Williams, 7-6(7), 6-1, in the Round of 16.
The winner of the Eala-Svitolina showdown will advance to the semifinals and face either Linda Noskova or Paula Badosa.
Season recap
Grass-court swing
- HSBC Championships (WTA 500) — Round of 16
- Birmingham Open (WTA 125) — Champion
Clay-court swing
- French Open (Grand Slam) — Round of 128
- Italian Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 32
- Madrid Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 64
- Stuttgart Open (WTA 500) — Round of 32
- Linz Open (WTA 500) — Round of 16
Sunshine Swing
- Miami Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 16
- Indian Wells Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 16
Middle East Swing
- Dubai Tennis Championships (WTA 1000) — Quarterfinals
- Qatar Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 64
- Abu Dhabi Open (WTA 500) — Quarterfinals
Philippine Women’s Open (WTA 125) — Quarterfinals
Australian Swing
- Australian Open (Grand Slam) — Round of 128
- ASB Classic (WTA 250) — Semifinals
—JKC, GMA News
