Filipina tennis prodigy Alex Eala is one match away from registering her name on the Eastbourne Open title following her semifinal win over France’s Varvara Gracheva on Friday. Eala triumphed in a nerve-wracking three sets, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, to secure her first-ever appearance in a WTA Tour final.
Eala showcased her spirit during this match for two hours and 22 minutes. She narrowly took the first set, Gracheva came back with a storm in the second, and the final set saw the two of them tied at 3-all before Eala marched ahead to claim the title.
This indeed is a new frontier for Eala to become the first-ever Filipina in about forty years to reach a WTA final and an affirmation of her status as one of the more promising new kids on the Asian tour.
The journey hasn’t been easy for Eala en route to the final. She survived qualifying by downing Zeynep Sonmez of Turkiye and top seed Hailey Baptiste of the United States. Her first opponent in the draw appeared to be a task as she passed Italian Lucia Bronzetti. Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko then retired early in the second round, allowing Eala to advance to the second round.
She balked at the advance of Dayana Yastremska in the quarters, making a mark, and went on to face Gracheva for a rematch of their Nottingham Open qualifier earlier this month, also a three-set victory for Eala.
The fifty-sixth seed in the world, she will go on to contest for her maiden WTA title on Sunday and make history again by carrying home a trophy regarded as the breakthrough in her young professional career.
