"It's never easy to play one of your friends": Victoria Mboko puts bond with Alexandra Eala aside for Hong Kong Open win

Victoria Mboko off court goes and gets bubble tea with her fellow rising star Alexandra Eala but had to put aside that friendship for at least the time being as she took down her friend to reach the Quarter-Finals of the Hong Kong Open.

Next for Mboko is a certain Anna Kalinskaya. She has now reached another Quarter-Final after spending the last few months not winning a match since she sealed the Canadian Open. Now she sits on the verge of the top 20.

But it didn't make it any easier in a draw that she likely looked at and lamented as someone she knows well off court but given their trajectory, it could be a match that she unfortunately has to play a lot. They were also spotted at the players party with Maya Joint who also reached the Quarter-Finals.

They have both rocketed into the top 100 this year. Eala defeated three Grand Slam champions en route to reaching the semi-finals in Miami in her landmark run. In August, Mboko saw off Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Naomi Osaka to win in Montreal. This was their first professional encounter albeit they met in Juniors. Albeit their friendship as Mboko explained goes back way before that.

Through the first two sets, Eala gained a 3-0 lead only for Mboko to come back fighting. But Mboko held game point to level at 4-4, she sent a backhand wide after some great defense from Eala. She pressed that home to take the opening set. Mboko's game increased as her first serve percentage headed up. But the start of the third set saw Mboko dip again. She hit three double faults in a game and Eala advanced into a 4-1 lead. But her game fell apart as Mboko increased her level to win five games in a row to seal a narrow win.

“I want to first congratulate Alex for an amazing match. It's never easy to play one of your friends,” Mboko said in a post-match interview. I've known her for such a long time, so that made it a little bit emotional. I know there are so many Filipinos here who came to support Alex, and this is what this sport is all about. I love the support, you came today, and it made the match so much more intense and super tough for me,” she said.

“So I think I really had to fight for every single point. Yeah, I think it was just an unbelievable match.”

She also described her bond with Mboko and said that their memories together are ones to treasure off the court and that it was hard to put that aside. She also lauded the crowd as well as Eala's game as she gets ready to play Kalinskaya - who is still without a title despite many attempts prior.

"She's such a sweet girl and we have so many great memories together off the court," Mboko said. "We'll go and get bubble tea together, we do the most wholesome things together."

"It feels unbelievable to come back in a match like that," Mboko said afterwards. "Alex was playing such incredible tennis, and of course the ambience in the crowd was very electric. It was very intense so I think it really pushed me more and more to fight as much as possible."