Alexandrova, who has struggled for form at the start of 2026, provided a reminder of her quality with a convincing 91-minute victory over the Filipino rising star.

The Russian won 70% of points behind her first serve, while breaking Eala five times throughout the contest to move into the last four of the prestigious WTA 500 event.

Next up for Alexandrova is American Hailey Baptiste, who overcame a second-set wobble to defeat fifth seed Liudmila Samsonova in a closely fought affair, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

On the other side of the draw, third seed Clara Tauson proved too strong for McCartney Kessler in a 6-3, 6-4 triumph, with the Dane fending off several break points in the second set to prevail.

Read more: [lslink-news-article cms-href="https://www.flashscore.com/news/tennis-abu-dhabi-wta-singles-improving-clara-tauson-moves-into-first-semi-final-of-the-season-in-abu-dhabi/tIWGBXTs/" slug="tennis-abu-dhabi-wta-singles-improving-clara-tauson-moves-into-first-semi-final-of-the-season-in-abu-dhabi" article-id="tIWGBXTs"]Tauson downs Kessler in Abu Dhabi[/lslink-news-article]

Tauson will face Czechia’s Sara Bejlek in the last four after the 20-year-old cruised past Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal 6-0, 6-2 in just 64 minutes.

Both semi-finals will take place on Friday, with the showpiece event to follow on Saturday afternoon.

[lslink-league cms-href="https://www.flashscore.com/match/tennis/alexandrova-ekaterina-dzbgeEFF/eala-alexandra-ppu9X7PH/draw/?mid=YuMqATM6" sport-id="2" tournament-template-id="lKJiHgVg" tournament-id="IsPhq6xn" tournament-stage-id="8nImusPq" season-id="185" target="summary"]Check out the full schedule in Abu Dhabi here.[/lslink-league]