Diana Shnaider came from a set down to beat Alexandra Eala 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in the Pan Pacific Open quarter-finals in Tokyo, winning a tight second-set tiebreak and closing with an ace. The third seed will meet wild card Mia Pohankova for a place in the final.
Tokyo, Japan: The last quarter-final at the WTA 500 event went the distance, and Diana Shnaider needed her best tennis late on Friday to survive it. For a set and a half, the third seed was the one chasing a match that Eala, the eighth seed, had briefly made her own.
Eala’s fast start
Shnaider won the opening game, then watched Eala take control. The Filipina broke her twice and ran through five straight games to take the first set 6-2, extending the run that had carried her through a comeback against Talia Gibson in the previous round. Eala, ranked world No. 19, was the one dictating in the early exchanges.
A tiebreak that swung twice
The second set offered neither player a break, so a tiebreak settled it. Eala fought back from behind to level at 5-5, but a double fault at a critical moment handed the advantage back and Shnaider took the last two points for 7-5, and the set 7-6.
Foot trouble and a closing ace
Shnaider, the world No. 13, broke early in the decider and moved ahead. Eala called a medical timeout for treatment on her foot, then held serve to stay in touch and trail 4-5, but Shnaider served out the match with an ace to win 6-4. It was her second straight victory over Eala, after a 7-5, 6-4 win in the Ningbo Open round of 16 the previous week. Afterwards Shnaider said the contest had been worthy of a final and that she had not expected to win after how well Eala played.
Semi-final line-up
Shnaider will play 18-year-old Mia Pohankova in the semi-finals. The wild card also beat Alycia Parks in the quarter-finals, after her earlier win over Naomi Osaka. The other semi-final is Leylah Fernandez against Kamilla Rakhimova, set up when Elena Rybakina withdrew with a neck injury.
Eala’s week in Tokyo ends with a run to the last eight. She is due to play the Hong Kong Open, which begins on 2 November and is expected to be her final event of the season.
Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo), WTA 500, quarter-final: Diana Shnaider (3) beat Alexandra Eala (8) 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
Semi-finals: Shnaider v Pohankova; Fernandez v Rakhimova.
