Alex Eala gave it her all but fell short of reaching her second WTA final.
The fourth-seeded Eala had to overcome a sluggish start, lost a match point in the second set, and nearly staged a miraculous comeback in the third before falling to seventh seed Wang Xinyu of China, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, in the semifinals of the WTA ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Filipina struggled early, uncharacteristically committing numerous errors as the 24-year-old Wang raced to a 4-0 lead.
Eala held serve for the first time in the fifth game and had three break points in the sixth but could not capitalize, with Wang relying on her powerful serves to maintain a 5-1 lead.
That would be the last game Wang would win in the opening set.
Once Eala found her rhythm, she pushed Wang onto the back foot, sweeping the next six games to claim the set, 7-5.
The second set again saw Eala start slowly, falling behind 0-2 after being broken in the first game.
Wang extended her lead to 3-1 before Eala rallied, taking the next four games to go up 5-3.
Serving for the match in the ninth game, the Rafa Nadal Academy-trained player could not convert a match point and lost serve.
Wang seized the reprieve, regaining confidence and winning the next three games to claim the second set, forcing a decider.
The third set initially mirrored the first, with Wang racing to a 5-1 lead.
Eala mounted a fightback, winning three consecutive games to narrow the gap to 5-4.
But Wang held serve in the 10th game to finally end the resilient Filipina’s run after two hours and forty-seven minutes of play.
This marks only the third time in her young career that Eala has reached the semifinals of a WTA event.
She will next fly to Melbourne, Australia, to join the Kooyong Classic, an invitation-only singles event that many players use as final preparation for the Australian Open.
