DESPITE a heavily-bandaged right thigh, courageous Alex Eala rose to the occasion in exacting a vengeful 6-4, 6-0 win over former Japanese tormentor Himeno Sakatsume to enter the women’s singles quarterfinals of the Philippine Women’s Open last night.

Under chilly conditions and with the animated hometown crowd rooting her on, Eala played with inspiration and was in complete command in the second set, finishing off Sakatsume in one hour and 21 minutes of captivating action at Center Court of the packed Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

While the tighly-fought first set lasted 48 minutes, the pretty Pinay southpaw needed just 33 minutes more in advancing to the next round of the meet sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission in impressive fashion.

The well-deserved trumph was three years in the making, avenging a 6-3, 6-0 setback in the opening round of WTA 250 Kinoshita Group Japan Open in the seaport city of Osaka in 2023.

“This (victory) was so enjoyable. I am so very happy with the win, of course although the first set was close,” Eala said in the short post-match interview on the court as most of the gallery lingered to listen to her.

Awaiting her in the quarters today, Thursday, is seasoned Colombian No. 5 Camila Osorio, who posted  a nervy 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over upset-conscious Japanese Mai Hontama, whom she played previously before, in gaining a quarterfinal seat.

In a fierce battle of baseliners punctuated by long rallies, Eala proved steadier in the clutch in the opening set, staving off four break points in the critical eighth game to hold serve for a 4-all deadlock.

Then the hometown bet broke the Japanese in the ninth, fighting through one deuce before whipping a fierce cross court forehand winner to wrest the lead at 5-4 then held serve anew to seal the opening set after 48 tense minutes of action.

Although she had her right thigh re-bandaged in-between sets, the pretty Pinay southpaw moved around the court effortlesslty while wearing down her demoralized rival.

Serving out the set, Eala trailed 15-40 in the sixth but gamely fought back to force two deuces to avoid being broken, while Hakatsume finally succumbed in hitting a weak drop shot in settling the issue once and for all.

“To be honest, I would love to play her (Eala). She is a really a great competitor. She is very passionate, fight to the last point, which is what I really like about her game and her mindset,” Osorio said at her post-match briefing.