Alex Eala got off to a sluggish start in her crucial quarterfinal match against a seasoned Chinese veteran.
But once she found her rhythm, there was little the home favorite could do to stop her.
Eala won 10 of the final 11 games to recover from an early deficit and defeat 35-year-old Lu Jia-Jing, 6-4, 6-1, on Friday, advancing to the semifinals of the WTA 125 Jingshan Open in Hubei, China.
The top-seeded Eala found herself in trouble early, losing her serve in the third game of the first set and allowing Lu to take a 4-2 lead after holding in the sixth game.
That setback seemed to ignite Eala’s determination.
The 20-year-old saved a break point in the seventh game and then surged to win the next three games, stealing the set from the stunned Chinese player.
Lu, a veteran with 18 ITF singles titles, appeared poised to challenge again in the second set, breaking Eala in the opening game.
However, that would be her final stand. By the second game, Eala had effectively silenced the home crowd at the Jingshan International Tennis Tournament Center.
The Filipina star broke Lu three times to close out the set in just 32 minutes.
Eala will now face a familiar foe in the semifinals on Saturday: third seed Lulu Sun of New Zealand.
Sun, born to a Chinese mother and Croatian father, defeated Eala in straight sets, 7-6(3), 7-5, in the final round of the 2024 Wimbledon qualifiers.
Sun, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 39 last September, went on to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
Both Eala and the 24-year-old Sun have been in impressive form this week, each winning all three of their matches in Jingshan without dropping a set.
