Fritz faces lucky loser Brooksby in Eastbourne final, Eala makes history

Hindustan Times

4 hours ago

Top seed Taylor Fritz is on course for a fourth Eastbourne Open title in six attempts after setting up a final against fellow American and lucky loser Jenson Brooksby on Friday. HT Image
Fritz overcame a second set stumble to beat Spanish sixth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 and close in on his second title of the grass court season after winning in Stuttgart earlier this month.
If the world number five was fully expected to reach Saturday's final, Brooksby has been on a fairytale run since losing in straight sets to Aleksandar Vukic in qualifying.
The 24-year-old upset French fourth seed Ugo Humbert 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-4 to become the first lucky loser to reach the final in tournament history.
"I think it's a lot less pressure when you don't expect to be in the main draw and get the opportunity," said 149th-ranked Brooksby. "You just want to make the most of it."
Brooksby won his first ATP Tour title earlier this year as a qualifier in Houston, where he saved match point in three of his matches during his run.
"It means a lot to be back on stages like this, not just skill-wise but physically," said Brooksby, who began the year outside the top 1,000 in the world.
"This is my favourite thing in the world to be back on these big stages in these big matches. I'm very happy to be playing again tomorrow."
Earlier, Alexandra Eala became the first player from the Philippines to reach a WTA Tour final after beating Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
Eala survived a tense clash lasting more than two hours to make history in the Wimbledon warm-up event on the grass at Devonshire Park.
In a final featuring two of the rising stars of the women's game, the 20-year-old will face Australian teenager Maya Joint on Saturday.
Joint, 19, ranked 51 the world, beat Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-3.
"It was a challenge for both of us, physically and mentally. She's a really solid player, had some moments where she was really dominating," said Eala.
"The fact that I was able to stay there and wait for my opportunities was a big achievement for me."
Eala's run to the final underlined the world number 74's emergence as one to watch.
She burst onto the scene with three shock victories over Grand Slam winners Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek to reach the Miami Open semi-finals in March.
Eala is due to face reigning champion Barbora Krejcikova in the Wimbledon first round on Centre Court on Tuesday.
But Krejcikova is struggling with a thigh injury that forced her to pull out of the Eastbourne quarter-finals on Thursday, putting the Czech's title defence in doubt.
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