Alex Eala found herself pushed to the limit but had enough energy in the deciding set to thwart the third seed, Arianne Hartono of the Netherlands, 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-1, in Saturday’s semifinals of the W25 ITF Roehampton. The tournament was hosted by The National Tennis Center in Roehampton, Great Britain.
The 18-year-old Eala had to overcome a sluggish start, which saw her trailing 1-4 in the first set.
She recovered just in time, pocketing the next four games to go up 5-4 before eventually prevailing in the tiebreak.
After dropping the second set, Eala came out with renewed vigor in the third set and pummeled the fading Hartono in the one-sided decider.
Eala has been on an impressive run this week in the $25,000 ITF event.
She took out three Australians in succession: qualifier Gabriella Da Silva Fick in the opening round, Eala’s own doubles partner Detanee Alava in the second round, and top seed Priscilla Hon in the quarterfinals.
The Filipina teen will be gunning for her fourth career pro title when she faces another Australian, the 33-year-old Russian-born second seed Arina Rodionova, in the finals on Sunday. (AC)
