Fifteen months after shocking the tennis world in Miami, Alex Ila is once again behind elite opponents, with Elina Svitolina being the last to be eliminated in Berlin.
The Filipino tennis sensation advanced to the last four of the 2026 Berlin Open with an impressive 6-3, 6-4 victory over world No. 8 Svitolina at the Steffi Graf Stadium early Saturday morning (Philippine time).
This is Ila’s sixth win against a top-10 opponent, and the first time Ila has won back-to-back games against players of this caliber since the 2025 Miami Open, when she defeated Madison Keys and Iga Swientek in back-to-back matches.
Riding the momentum of her previous win over Elena Rybakina, Ila rode the momentum in the first set, taking a 3-0 lead with an early break in the second game and two comfortable holds of serve.
Both players then found a rhythm with their serves and held out for the next four games until Svitolina found an opening. The former world No. 3 got a break in the seventh game to close the gap to 4-3 and was on the verge of a comeback.
However, Ira quickly regained control of the set. Undeterred by the setback, the Filipino fought back with another break in the eighth game and confidently served first in the ninth game, capping off a strong start with a 6-3 first set win.
Despite the ace count being 4-1 in the award-winning Ukrainian’s favor, Ila had a better first serve success rate of 69% compared to her opponent’s 62%, and even took the lead point at 15-11 in the opener.
Ila carried that momentum into the second set, winning the opening match with 18 points and securing an early break. She then held serve to take a 2-0 lead.
But Svitolina responded as befits a player of her pedigree. The Ukrainian briefly regained momentum by holding serve and breaking in in the fourth game to tie the set at 2-2.
The Filipino player quickly turned the tide again.
Eala produced breaks in the fifth and seventh games, sandwiched between two holds, to surge to 5-2 and move within one game of the semifinals.
To her credit, the 31-year-old Svitolina refused to go away quietly, breaking in the eighth game and helping with a hold to cut the gap to 5-4.
But once the goal was in sight, Ila showed remarkable composure, serving out in the 10th game for another clear victory in a breakout season.
In the end, the 21-year-old returned for another impressive victory, leading 13-9 on her first serve return and 21-19 on her second.
Ila’s next opponent in the semi-finals will be world No. 13 Linda Noskova, who will be looking to break the curse of her Czech opponent, but currently has a lopsided record against European players with one win and 13 losses.
