Eala clinically beats Marcinko

Grizzled tandem of Maleckova-Zarazua withdraws

IT’S NO MERCY for the Filipina juggernaut with a double playoff stint in her first hurrah this season.

Alexandra “Alex” Eala stamped her class on fellow rising star Petra Marcinko of Croatia, 6-0, 6-2, and barged into the quarterfinals of the 2026 ASB Classic singles on Thursday at the ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland, New Zealand.

Behind a chunk of Filipino crowd, WTA No. 53 and No. 4 seed Ms. Eala was unforgiving right off the bat by wiping out the former world junior No. 1 in the opening frame and just quickly erased a 1-2 deficit in the second with a 5-0 closeout for the easy win.

Her masterclass in the singles capped a twin victory for Ms. Eala, earning a walkover earlier in the day in the doubles quarterfinals with American partner Iva Jovic following the withdrawal of the grizzled tandem of Czechia’s Jesika Maleckova (WTA No. 72) and Mexico’s Renata Zarazua (WTA No. 84).

Ms. Eala and WTA No. 35 Ms. Jovic, who stunned WTA No. 13 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and multititled Venus Williams of the United States in the first round, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1, will face the third-seeded Chinese pair of Yifan Xu, WTA No. 40, and Zhaoxuan Yang, WTA No. 44, in the final four on Saturday.

The Chinese duo scored a 6-4, 1-6, 10-5 win over Isabelle Haverlag of the Netherlands and Maia Lumsden of Great Britain.

But the spotlight was on her methodical clinic in the singles as the 20-year-old Ms. Eala, a former world junior No. 2 herself, needed only 63 minutes to score the Round of 16 victory against the WTA No. 82 Ms. Marcinko, also 20 years old.

It was a far cry from her marathon opener, needing two hours and 40 minutes to best another Croatian in WTA No. 69 Donna Vekic, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

“I feel amazing. I’m so happy with how I was able to complete and handle different situations on court. It’s never easy to play Petra (Marcinko). She’s obviously a very good player and she’s been doing really well. I’m happy with how I played and how I handled it,” said Ms. Eala.

Ms. Eala, in her first tournament this season after a stellar 2025 campaign that catapulted her to the world’s Top 50, owned the first seven games bridging the first and second set before surrendering the next two.

Behind a perfect 6-of-6 clip in breakpoints, Ms. Eala was quick to regain groove by owning the last five games to snap Ms. Marcinko’s 11-game winning streak and score one of the most dominant victories in her booming career.

And that’s exactly how she wanted to start the New Year with lofty goals of winning more WTA titles, climbing the WTA ladder and having deep Grand Slam campaigns beginning with the Australian Open, where she’s set for a main draw debut next week.

“I think every start of the year comes differently. New year, new story and that goes for everybody. I’m happy with how I’m starting. Comfortable is a stretch. It’s difficult for everybody, especially at this level that gives you certain challenges. But I’m happy with how I played,” she beamed.

But first things first for the newly-crowned Southeast Asian Games queen as she shoots for a final four ticket on Saturday against a seasoned rival in 33-year-old Magda Linette of Poland, who’s a rank and seed higher above her.

The No. 5 seed and WTA No. 52 Ms. Linette, who scored a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 win over WTA No. 81 Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy, holds a 2-0 head-to-head upper hand over Ms. Eala including a sweep defeat in the Nottingham Open grass tourney in England last year. — John Bryan Ulanday