Tokyo thriller: Alex Eala exits Toray Pan Pacific Open after loss to Diana Shnaider

RETURN. The Philippines' Alex Eala in action during the Stars of the Open exhibition event in the 2026 US Open.

US OPEN

'I didn't believe that I would be able to pull that win off because she played insane,' Russian Diana Shnaider says of Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala

MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala suffered a heartbreaking loss against Russian player Diana Shnaider, 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Friday, October 30.

Eala had taken the first set convincingly, 6-2, but the second set saw the two players enter a thrilling tiebreaker, with Shnaider eventually forcing a deciding third set, 7-6(5), against the Filipina tennis star.

While the 21-year-old Eala had appeared to be catching up late in the third, Shnaider proved to be difficult to contain.

“Honestly, I feel like this match deserved to be a final. It was an insane level of tennis from both of us. I didn’t believe that I would be able to pull that win off because [Eala] played insane,” Shnaider said of her last-eight match against Eala, which lasted two hours and 52 minutes.

“But I was just trying to keep reminding myself to keep fighting for every point.”

Shnaider had previously beaten Eala in the second round of the Ningbo Open in China, 7-5, 6-4, on October 22.

The Russian player will now face Slovakia’s Mia Pohánková in the semifinals, while the Filipina tennis ace sets her sights on the Hong Kong Tennis Open. – Rappler.com