Alexandra Eala makes history for the Philippines by reaching Eastbourne final
EASTBOURNE – Alexandra Eala became the first player from the Philippines to reach a WTA Tour final, as she beat fellow qualifier Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 on the Eastbourne grass on June 27.
The 20-year-old left-hander, ranked 74th in the world, edged out a tight first set before losing five games in a row in the second as the match appeared to be slipping away.
But she regrouped in the decider and survived a tough seventh game before breaking her French opponent's serve to lead 5-3. She then enjoyed a love service game hold to seal victory.
In June 28's final she will face either Australia's Maya Joint or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
'I'm super happy because that was a tough match and there were some really tough moments where she was playing well,' said an emotional Eala, who is based in Mallorca and trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy.
'I sometimes didn't know how to get out of it.
'It was tough physically and mentally because she is a tough player and also came from qualifying.'
Eala first made waves in March when she defeated three Grand Slam champions – Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek – on her way to the Miami Open semi-finals.
It may be too early to say that she is a potential big star in women's tennis, but she has now indeed gone one step further to a title showdown.
Her run will also not have gone unnoticed by reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, who has been drawn to play her in the first round at the All England Club next week.
Krejcikova reached the quarter-finals at Eastbourne but withdrew with a thigh injury on June 26.
Meanwhile, five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek crushed second seed Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-3 to reach the Bad Homburg Open final and stay in the hunt for her first career title on grass.
With Wimbledon starting next week, the former world No. 1 showed she was on the right track on the surface, outclassing the Italian, last year's Wimbledon finalist.
'I am super happy and I was not expecting this. I just did my job and I knew what I wanted to play and I went for it,' Swiatek said in a post-match interview.
'I'm happy I kept the momentum going until the end of the match. Jasmine, you can't let her get back in the game because she's a fighter. I just wanted to go for it, and go for my shots.'
Swiatek has a 5-0 lead in their head-to-head matches.
The Pole, who has won the French Open four times along with one US Open, did not play any other grass tournaments this season ahead of next week's Wimbledon start, instead opting for a week of training in Mallorca before competing in Bad Homburg.
She was never troubled by the Italian in the first set as she raced through it in 29 minutes courtesy of three breaks.
The pair traded breaks at the start of the second set but Paolini continued to struggle to hold serve and contain the aggressive Pole who went 4-2 up.
Swiatek sealed victory with a forehand winner on her third match point to book a final spot where she will face either top seed Jessica Pegula or Czech Linda Noskova in Saturday's final. AFP, REUTERS
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