Alex Eala vs. Elena Rybakina 2026 Berlin Tennis Open Round of 16 Preview

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Alex Eala vs. Elena Rybakina 2026 Berlin Tennis Open Round of 16 Preview image

By Joel Reyes

Alex Eala will resume her campaign at the 2026 Berlin Tennis Open on Thursday, with the Filipina star set to face World No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the second round at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club.

Steffi Graf Stadion will host the blockbuster showdown, with the matchup set to start no earlier than 11:30 p.m. tonight (PH time). A victory here will see Eala record her second quarterfinal appearance on grass this season.

Eala is coming off an impressive 7-5, 6-4 win over Queen's Club champion Donna Vekic in the first round. The Quezon City native blasted a career-high eight aces and hit 27 winners in the straight-sets victory.

It won't get any easier for Eala as she will next face Rybakina, who received a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed in the WTA 500 tournament.

This will be the second meeting between Eala and Rybakina on the WTA Tour, with the Kazakh holding a 1-0 edge in their head-to-head matchup.

They recently faced each other in the third round of the 2026 Italian Open, with Rybakina recording a 6-4, 6-3 win over Eala in Rome.

Eala will fancy her chances of gaining revenge against Rybakina in the Round of 16 in Berlin as she has been in superb form to start the grass season.

She has won seven of her eight matches on this surface, including a memorable title run at the Birmingham Open earlier this month.

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