Alex Eala books semis spot in ITF W100 Dubai
MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala has put herself in a position not only to finish her season with a championship trophy, but also to end the year with a new career high in the world rankings.
Eala endured some scary moments before coming from behind to defeat Kyoka Okamura of Japan, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, to claim a semifinal spot in the ITF W100 27th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge 2024 played on Friday, December 6, at the Habtoor Grand Resort in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The fourth-seeded Eala had her back against the wall when she lost the opening set, which was tied until the sixth game at 3-3, before the unseeded Okamura broke Eala twice to claim the last three games to go up a set.
It was Eala’s turn in the second set to pocket three straight games to surge ahead to 5-3, closing out the tightly contested set after 51 minutes to set up a decider.
What was expected to be a tight contest in the last set, though, turned out to be a lopsided affair as Eala dominated the fading 29-year-old Okamura.
The Filipina teen zoomed to a 3-0 lead and never allowed her Japanese foe into the set, which Eala finished in just eight games to earn for herself a spot in the last four.
Eala, the world no. 155, fired four aces and committed just two double faults in the quarterfinal match that lasted two hours and 13 minutes.
Eala will be up against a formidable foe in her quest to make Sunday’s finale. She will next face top seed Polina Kudermetova of Russia, who also came from behind to prevail over Japanese qualifier Mei Yamaguchi, 0-6, 6-1, 6-3.
The 19-year-old Eala will look to exact some payback as Kudermetova defeated her in three sets in the semifinals of the ITF W50 Indore in India last February. – Rappler.com