Eala seeks redemption against Shnaider

IT has been a week since Russia’s Diana Shnaider eliminated Alex Eala at the Ningbo Open in China. That loss extended Eala’s slump of missing the quarterfinal round for the fifth consecutive time. On Friday, world No. 19 Eala will have vengeance in mind when she battles No. 13 Shnaider anew in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Toray Pan Pacific Open at Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan. Eala opened her campaign in Tokyo with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win over Mika Stojsavljevic in the round of 32 before scoring a come-from-behind win against Talia Gibson of Australia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, to reach the last eight. “Staying in the match and never giving up, the first set was difficult, then I had my chances, so I knew to work on every point, and I knew that if I kept my concentration, I would have more chances,” Eala said after recovering from a one-set deficit against Gibson on Wednesday night. This marks Eala’s first quarterfinal appearance since her breakthrough title run at the 2026 Washington Open in August, where she captured her maiden WTA trophy. She was eliminated early in her five previous tournaments in the WTA Tour. She exited in the round of 16 in Montreal,...