American Claire Liu advanced to her first final in just her seventh main-draw appearance of the year.
Richard PagliaroNovember 7, 20261 minute read
By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, November 7, 2026
Photo credit: Screen Shot
Claire Liu swept into her maiden final in Hong Kong today.
The 102nd-ranked Liu beat qualifier Alexandra Shubladze, 7-5, 6-4, to advance to the Hong Kong Open final in just her seventh main-draw appearance of the year.
Liu has not surrendered a set in tournament wins over Tatiana Prozorova, Katie Boulter,
Zeynep Sonmez and Shubladze en route to the final.
California native Liu will face left-hander Alexandra Eala in tomorrow’s final.
The second-seeded Eala edged fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 to battle into her third career final.
Eala opened a 4-1 lead in the final set, but Sakkari surged through three games in a row to level. Eala held for 5-4 then converted her second match point to close the victory.
The 21-year-old Filipina phenom improved to 40-24 on the season with 29 of her 40 wins coming on hard court.
Washington, DC champion Eala will play for her second career championship in Sunday’s final.
