​Alex Eala and Claire Liu will battle it out for the Hong Kong Open title.Both Eala and Liu have produced superb runs at the WTA 250 tournament, where the Filipina superstar is the second seed. Her American rival is unseeded, and now has the chance to claim her first-ever WTA title.Meanwhile, Eala is chasing her second career title, having claimed her first earlier this year in Washington. She is the strong favourite heading into the Hong Kong Open final, but history suggests that it will be far from an easy encounter versus Liu.Who is Alex Eala’s Hong Kong Open final opponent Claire Liu?Eala is currently 17th in the WTA rankings, which represents her career-high rank. Liu once climbed as high as world number 52, but she is currently ranked just outside the top 100, in 102nd. The American entered Hong Kong with a 295/206 career win/loss record, which stood at 39/21 for the 2026 season.She is without a WTA title, but has twice emerged victorious at WTA 125 level, lifting the trophies in Barranquilla this year and Paris in 2022. Liu did manage to reach the Rabat final in 2022, but she was beaten by Martina Trevisan.The 26-year-old also boasts a superb track record in juniors, winning the Wimbledon girls’ singles title in 2017, as well as the doubles title in 2016. The former success helped her rise to number one in the girls’ junior rankings.But arguably most notably concerning Eala, Liu triumphed in their only previous career meeting. They met in the first round in Guangzhou last year, where the American came from behind to beat the Filipina 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 after two hours and 28 minutes.A. EalaC. Liu44%Points won56%15Winners2811Unforced errors113Aces73Double faults1Eala vs Liu Guangzhou 2025 round of 32 key statsREAD MORE:Alex Eala confirms what she plans to do in the Hong Kong final after beating Maria SakkariAlex Eala and Claire Liu’s routes to the Hong Kong finalEala has certainly grown a lot since that match, as demonstrated by her hugely impressive win over Maria Sakkari. It follows victories over Emerson Jones, Tereza Valentova and Antonia Ruzic at the WTA 250 event. Meanwhile, Liu has knocked out qualifier Tatiana Prozorova, eighth seed Katie Boulter, Eala’s close friend Zeynep Sonmez, and Alexandra Shubladze, another qualifier.Their runs and their history all point toward an exciting final, where the pressure will be on Eala to come out on top. But she has proven during her brief career so far that she is more than capable of handling such pressure, which is intensified by her huge following wherever she goes.