The Filipina tennis star is closing her season with a bang.
World no. 17 Alex Eala continues to make her strong presence felt at the Hong Kong Open as she, who is seeded second in the WTA 250 tournament, made strides in the past two days.
In the quarterfinals that happened on Friday, November 6, the 21-year-old fought 23-year-old Antonia Ružić of Croatia for a spot in the semis.
During which, Eala and Ružić locked themselves up for an intense game that lasted over two hours.
At the onset, it was already a tight race between the two, with them trading breaks from the opening set, which saw them go on a tiebreak that extended the match.
It eventually ended up with Alex having the momentum before the play was temporarily suspended due to rain. However, she held on to that and finished on top with the scoreline reading 7-6(7), 7-5.
Not even a full day after the grueling match, the Filipina netter returned to the court to take on Greek player Maria Sakkari in the semifinals of the tournament.
The game, which began in the afternoon (local time), was repeatedly affected by weather-related pauses.
In the first set, Alex had a good start and emerged victorious. However, she was not able to sustain that and was countered by Maria in the second set to force the game to a decking third set.
There, Eala was able to recover and finally take hold of another win to secure a spot in the finals. The final scoreline was 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
Alex will play against American player Claire Liu for the title match, which is scheduled on Sunday, November 8.
