Elina Svitolina sets up rematch with Alex Eala

Elina Svitolina of Ukraine will face Filipino tennis star Alex Eale in the quarterfinals of the Mubadala DC Open in Washington on Friday (Saturday morning, Philippine time).

Svitolina set the rematch against Eala with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Polina Kudermetova in the second round on Thursday night. Kudermetova served for the first set twice, and had a set point at 40-30 at 6-5, before Svitolina completed the win.

Five weeks ago in Berlin, Eala beat  Svitolina, a win that was one of three Top 10 wins that defined her breakthrough grass-court season.

But on a “new surface” and in “a new country and new city,” as Svitolina put it in an article at WTA’s website, the Ukrainian hopes for a different result.

Against Eala, Svitolina will bid for her first semifinal berth since winning the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in May.

“It was not an easy battle for me,” Svitolina said of her 6-4, 6-3 defeat to Eala on grass.

“Tomorrow is a new surface, new country, a new city, so it’s a new challenge, and hopefully I’m going to draw some confidence from today’s match and carry it into tomorrow.”

Eala defeated defending champion Leylah Fernandez in straight sets last Wednesday, July 29, to advance to the quarterfinals.

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