MANILA, Philippines – New year, new career milestone for Alex Eala.
The 19-year-old reached the semifinals of a WTA 125 event for the first time in her career, rallying from a set down to overcome fellow teen Taylah Preston of Australia on Thursday, January 2, in the quarterfinals of the Workday Canberra International.
After winning her first two matches in the main draw in straight sets, Eala found herself in a dogfight against an Aussie who was determined not to disappoint the hometown fans at the Canberra International Tennis Centre.
Both Eala and Preston were coming off impressive victories in the round of 16. The Filipina dominated Arianne Hartono of the Netherlands, 6-3, 6-3, while the Australian wildcard entry pulled off a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 upset of sixth seed Marina Stakusic of Canada.
The quarterfinal between Eala and Preston was a matchup between friends who knew each other’s game quite well. The two have played each other thrice in the past, with Eala winning all their previous encounters. They also teamed up for doubles competition last April in the WTA 125 Oeiras in Portugal.
That familiarity served Preston in good stead in the opening set, jumping to a 2-0 lead after breaking Eala in the very first game.
Currently 170th in the world with a career-high ranking of 134 achieved just last year, Preston never allowed Eala to tie the count and closed out the set in 10 games, 6-4.
Preston carried over her fine play to the second set, breaking Eala anew in the very first game. Facing a 1-2 deficit and in danger of losing her grip on the match, Eala stepped on the gas by breaking Preston three straight times to claim the next five games and win the set in just eight games, 6-2.
By the time the third set was played, Eala had already seized momentum and control of their battle. Preston managed to hold serve in the second game to knot the count at 1-1. But that proved to be the last gasp of resistance left in the Aussie youngster.
Eala broke serve in the fourth game as the world No. 148 Filipino swept the remaining games to finish the set and the match at 6-1 after an hour and 53 minutes.
The road to the finals will get tougher for Eala. She will await in the semifinals the winner of the match between world No. 134 Sijia Wei of China and former world No. 107 Simona Waltert of Switzerland. – Rappler.com
