In a dramatic, late-night marathon that stretched past midnight at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, 17th seed Alexandra Eala saw her Cincinnati Open run come to an agonizing end in the Round of 32.
After battling through a grueling two-hour-and-forty-minute war of attrition, World No. 10 and 9th seed Amanda Anisimova outlasted the Filipina phenom 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a match that finished at 12:50 AM Tuesday morning.
The opening frame set the tone for an extraordinary contest. After overcoming double faults to hold her opening serve, Eala found herself locked in a monumental fifth game—a 13-deuce marathon that tested both players’ endurance to the absolute limit. Showing ice-cold composure under intense pressure, Eala finally secured the game when Anisimova missed the baseline on a return to take a 3-2 edge.
Though Anisimova snatched a break for 4-3 as Eala’s physical energy briefly ebbed, the 21-year-old Filipina answered with sheer grit. Running end-to-end to chase down severe cross-court forehands, Eala broke back for 4-4, sending the vocal "Eala Army" into a frenzy.
Confounding the American with a heavy service spin, Eala held for 5-4 and then produced a masterclass game on return. At 40-0, Eala pulled off an extraordinary scramble to track down an Anisimova drop ball, flipping it back to steal the opening set 6-4.
Eala carried her momentum into the second frame, opening with precision baseline winners to push ahead 2-1 and matching Anisimova hold-for-hold through 3-3.
Alex Eala (R) congratulates Amanda Anisimova after their grueling match Monday/Tuesday in Cincinnati.
However, the powerful American began finding her mark on critical points. After securing a key break to lead 4-3, Anisimova consolidated for 5-3, cracking a rare smile as her baseline rhythm locked in. Eala held firm to pull within 4-5, but Anisimova slammed the door on set point in the next game, taking the set 6-4 at 12:13 AM and sending the clash into a deciding third set.
Eala struck first in the decider, breaking Anisimova early to sprint out to a 2-0 lead. But as the clock ticked past midnight, the relentless physical toll of Eala’s multi-week hard-court campaign began to show.
Anisimova immediately re-claimed the break for 2-1, before surviving another tense deuce battle to level at 2-2. With Eala’s movement slowing, the American capitalized, stringing together four consecutive games behind booming serves and clinical cross-court drives to build a 5-2 cushion.
Serving for the match, Anisimova showed no nerves, sweeping through a quick 40-0 game to seal the 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory.
Despite the heart-wrenching loss, Eala's fearless performance against a Top 10 titan further proves her place among the sport’s elite.
With her historic summer campaign in Washington, Toronto, and Cincinnati now behind her, the Filipina star will rest and regroup before taking center stage at the ultimate destination: the US Open in New York.
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