Alexandra Eala completes scintillating turnaround at Pan Pacific Open as Shnaider and Joint among quarter-finalists

The second round action at the Pan Pacific Open is underway, with Alexandra Eala headlining the contests in the Japanese capital. She overcame an early deficit to find a way past Talia Gibson in a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory.

The Filipina has not been at the races since making the trip over to compete in Asia. Early exits on the WTA Tour mixed with disappointment at the Asian Games has motivated her to get back on track, and that is seemingly what is occurring at the Pan Pacific Open. After her first round win against Mika Stojsavljevic, she would complete a convincing turnaround against Gibson.

It was the Aussie No.1 who managed to get the ball rolling after seven consecutive holds of serve, breaking to move 5-3 ahead. Eala broke to love, preventing her opponent from serving it out. She was not out of the woods, in desperate need of holding serve to stay in the set. She failed to do that, offering her opponent a solitary set point, which was taken.

Eala came racing out of the blocks in the second set, instantly leaping clear with a break of serve. She continued to hound the Gibson serve, and it paid off at the end of the set. She went 5-2 ahead with a double break before a sketchy final game saw her convert a third set point after being faced with a break point to get back on level terms.

The momentum was with the No.8 seed, and she continued to motor clear. She dropped just six points in the first five games as she sprinted 5-0 ahead. Gibson was pinned against the wall but did attempt a comeback attempt with two separate break points being created as Eala tried to serve it out. Both were missed, and Eala got the bagel under her belt. A statement ending with an impressive performance.

Standing in her way of a semi-final spot in Tokyo will be Diana Shnaider. The Russian is into consecutive WTA 500 quarter-finals after a thrilling encounter against Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, prevailing 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

The Russian seized the initiative in the first set, leading 4-1 at one point. Sasnovich won two games on the spin to get herself back on serve, but her resistance was all in vain as Shnaider broke free and sealed the first set with a third set point after coming back from a 0-40 deficit.

The second set would take 63 minutes to complete, with the lead changing sides. A four-game burst saw Sasnovich lead 4-2 before Shnaider restored parity. Two set points were missed against the serve, but the 32-year-old soon put it right to force a decider late on. Shnaider sailed out into a 5-2 advantage with a double break. Sasnovich got one of them back but could not stick around for much longer as Shnaider finally managed to see her off.

Ekaterina Alexandrova was not so fortunate, going down 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5) against lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova. Coming in for the reigning champion, Belinda Bencic, Rakhimova is certainly taking her chance. She broke three times in the first set, finally managing to back up the latter with a hold en route to seizing the upper hand.

Alexandrova almost blew her chance to get back level after she was broken to love directly after gifting herself a chance to serve it out. She soon made up for it with another break to love, as a decider was called upon. At 3-3, four breaks of serve would follow. Rakhimova wasted a match point as Alexandrova stuck in it. A tiebreak was called upon, and with a third match winning opportunity, Rakhimova finally got the job done for an impressive victory.

She will face Maya Joint in the last-eight after the Aussie also came through a three-set clash, defeating Cristia Bucsa 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. It took just 27 minutes for Joint to win the first set, winning the final five games. She faced break points in all but one of her service games, but Bucsa was not clinical enough. Her response in the second set was positive, converting three consecutive break points with a third set on the cards.

Joint’s form has stuttered since reaching that Korea Open final. It has not been a 2026 to remember, but there are signs that she could be finding her feet once more. The 20-year-old was 3-1 down in the decider but stuck in there and won five of the next six games to see off her Spanish foe and book her spot in the quarter-finals.

Tomorrow, the remaining second round matches will be played out. Alycia Parks will take on the Seoul champion Kimberly Birrell ahead of a rematch between Leylah Fernandez and Elise Mertens. The Canadian recently defeated the Belgian on the way to the final of the Ningbo Open. The home favourite, Naomi Osaka, again takes centre stage against 18-year-old wildcard Mia Pohankova before the World No.1 enters the fray. Fresh off her success in Ningbo, Elena Rybakina is the one to beat. She will be involved in an all-Kazakh clash against Yulia Putintseva.