Alex Eala continued her impressive run at the Hong Kong Open, overcoming former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari in three sets to book her place in the tournament final on Saturday evening at the Victoria Park Tennis Stadium.
The Filipina rising star outlasted the Greek veteran, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, in a rain-interrupted semifinal encounter to advance to her third WTA Tour final.
Eala will face American Claire Liu in the championship match after the latter secured her place in the final with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Russian Alexandra Shubladze earlier in the day.
The 20-year-old Filipina showed tremendous composure against Sakkari, particularly in the opening set, where she recovered from several momentum swings to take control of the match.
After racing to a 2-0 lead, Eala saw Sakkari fight her way back into the contest, with the Greek leveling the score at 3-3 before the two exchanged breaks to reach 5-5.
Eala then regained the advantage by breaking Sakkari’s serve in the 11th game before holding her own to close out the opening set, 7-5.
Sakkari responded in the second set, building an early 4-0 advantage as Eala struggled to find her rhythm. The Greek leaned on her powerful serve, firing multiple aces to keep the Filipina at bay.
Eala managed to get on the board and attempted to mount a comeback, but Sakkari maintained her advantage to take the second set, 6-3, handing Eala her first dropped set of the tournament.
The third set proved to be another test of Eala’s resilience, with the two players repeatedly forced to wait as rain interrupted play throughout the evening.
Despite the disruptions, Eala found her footing and broke Sakkari early to establish a 2-0 lead before extending her advantage to 4-1.
Sakkari refused to go away quietly, saving multiple break points and eventually pulling level at 4-4.
However, Eala responded with a crucial hold to move within a game of victory before capitalizing on Sakkari’s errors in the 10th game. A double fault from the Greek gave the Filipina two match points, and Eala made no mistake in converting the opportunity to seal the victory.
Eala’s run to the final has been marked by several impressive performances.
She opened her campaign with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over lucky loser Emerson Jones on Tuesday before getting past Czech opponent Tereza Valentova, 6-4, 7-6 (7), to reach the quarterfinals.
The Filipina then survived a tough encounter against Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic, prevailing 7-6 (9-7), 7-5, on Friday to secure her semifinal berth.
Now, Eala stands one win away from claiming another milestone in her rapidly rising professional career as she prepares for her championship showdown against Liu.
