No. 3 seed Alex Eala lost 6-4, 5-7, 3-6 to world No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova of Russia in the Singapore Open round of 16 on Thursday night. It was Eala's opening match after a first-round bye.
The match lasted 3 hours 9 minutes. Eala recovered from 3-1 down in the first set, then needed seven set points in an eight-deuce game to close it. She then led by a set and 4-2, and had a point for a 5-2 double break.
Prozorova never let go. She took the second set, then saved four break points in a six-deuce game at 3-3 in the third and pulled away. She hit 52 winners to Eala's 24, the WTA reports.
It was Prozorova's first career Top 20 win and her first WTA quarterfinal. For Eala, the world No. 18, it was a first loss to a player outside the Top 100 in exactly a year. It was also her first match in 18 days, since the US Open.
"Honestly, I don't have any words right now to describe my emotions, my feelings… Wow — I just did it! I just believed in myself 'til the end. I knew that she will fight," Prozorova said on court.
Prozorova faces China's Wang Xinyu in the quarterfinals. Eala is expected to next compete for the Philippines at the Asian Games in Japan, GMA News reports.
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