Mboko rallies past Eala to reach Hong Kong Open quarterfinals

HONG KONG — Victoria Mboko rallied from a set down to beat Alexandra Eala 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open, advancing the Canadian to the quarterfinals at Victoria Park. The 19 year old, seeded third, will next face sixth seed Anna Kalinskaya as the WTA 250 event moves into its final eight.

Mboko trailed by a break at 4-1 in the deciding set before winning five consecutive games to close out the match. She broke Eala five times and served eight aces while winning 67 percent of her first-serve points in a contest that stretched past two hours. Mboko had earlier opened the tournament with a win over Talia Gibson in which she struck 19 aces.

After the match Mboko, who captured the WTA 1000 title at the Canadian Open in August, praised Eala and described the encounter as emotional because of their off-court friendship. "It feels unbelievable to come back in a match like that," she said in a postmatch interview. "Alex was playing such incredible tennis, and of course the ambience in the crowd was very electric. It was very intense."

Eala advanced to the second round when Katie Boulter retired in their opening match with the Briton trailing 6-4, 2-1....