Alexandra “Alex” Ila added another star to her giant-killing spree by defeating world No. 8 Jasmine Paolini of Italy 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) at the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday morning at the Aviation Club Tennis Center Stadium in the UAE.
Ms Ella had tears in her eyes and in disbelief after a baseline winner that riled the dominant Filipino crowd, gave the sixth-seeded Italian a close bagel in the first set and recovered from wasting two match points in the second to complete a stunning upset with a sweep in 100 minutes.
The 20-year-old Filipina Pride, WTA No. 47, will look to go deeper into the 1000-tier tournament with big ranking points at stake against Romanian veteran Sorana Cristea in the Round of 16.
Ms Cirstea, WTA No. 32, also defeated world No. 14 and No. 10 seed Linda Noskova of Czechia of Dubai 6-1, 6-4 in her own round of 32 clash.
Ms Ella pulled the rug from under Ms Paolini, who ruled out the same Dubai tilt in 2024, with the WTA saying “a star is on the rise.”
Ms. Ella, a young player who is seen as the next big thing in world tennis, has a huge fan following wherever she goes, as she has the homecourt advantage, she has once again set many milestones with this historic win.
This is the third career top-10 win for Ms Ella after defeating World No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland and then World No. 5 Madison Keys of the United States in a magical last four run as a wildcard at the Miami Open last year, where she looks to make a spectacular comeback next month.
Ms Ila, aged 20 years and 268 days, thus became the youngest Asian woman to record multiple top 10 wins on two or more 1000-level tours, surpassing 28-year-old Japanese Naomi Osaka, who had achieved the feat at the age of 20 years and 350 days.
Her victory moved her to 38th in the live WTA rankings with an additional 110 points, the highest position of her career, although this is still subject to change depending on player activity after the official update next week.
“In the tiebreak, I was trying everything I could to keep myself under control. I was thinking, this stadium is full of Filipinos Should everyone say, 'Ilan kya sa inyo ang nagdasal para sa akin?' So I really have to give it everything I've got,” Ms Ella smiled once again as she was greeted by cheers and chants from the pro-Pinoy crowd as she did in Abu Dhabi and Doha.
Ms. Paolini, 30, earned a shot at partnering Ms. Paolini, 30, with Sara Errani, the 2024 Olympic doubles gold medalist, following an injury to American rival Hailey Baptiste, who had to retire with a 1-0 lead in the second set of Round 1 due to stomach pain. The lefty ace won 6-4 after a close score of 3-1 in the first set.
And she didn't shy away from the big stage against the multititle Italian, who reached a career-best ranking of No. 3, allowing Ms Paolini to bleed just one game in the first set before succumbing in the second.
Ms Ella, thirsty for a good performance after a first-round exit at the Qatar Open last week, surrendered a 5-3 lead marked by back-to-back service breaks to allow a tiebreaker, where she staged a 5-2 finishing kick to erase a 2-3 deficit after holding Ms Paolini's serve in the fifth game.
On match point with a 6-5 cushion, Ms. Ella sent a strong serve that started a long rally and fired it straight to the baseline with a forehand winner as Ms. Paolini failed to recover.
“All the emotions are coming through because the tension was very high, especially during that second set. I'm very happy to get through it. She's a great opponent, obviously in the top 10 and a former champion here,” Ms Ella said.
“So, to be able to compete with him at this level is a big accomplishment for me.” — John Brian Ulande