Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tiebreaker Times

News

ITF: Alex Eala reaches first ever W80 semis


Alex Eala continues to slay the big guns.

It’s been just a day after defeating 32-year-old eighth seed and former world number 71 Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia. Now, the 17-year-old Filipina prodigy has taken down world number 154 Ana Konjuh of Croatia on Friday in the quarterfinals of the W80 Internationaux Feminins De La Vienne held in Poitiers, France.

Eala refused to feel awed by the 24-year-old Croatian, who formerly ranked 20th in the world.

Konjuh is a US Open quarterfinalist who has reached the 4th round of Wimbledon and the second round of both the Australian Open and the French Open. She was coming off a huge come-from-behind three-set victory over third seed Xinyu Wang of China in the second round on Thursday.

What was projected to be a dogfight turned out to be a lopsided affair.

Eala, the 2022 US Open girls’ singles champion, immediately made known she had bad intentions. She broke Konjuh in the second and eighth games, to easily pocket the opening set.

So dominant was Eala that not once did she face break point in the first set.

Konjuh finally tasted the lead for the first time when she broke Eala in the third game of the second set. Just when the Croatian probably thought she got herself back in the match, Eala broke right back to tie the count at 2-2.

Eala regained control of their quarterfinal encounter when she once again broke Konjuh in the seventh game to seize the lead which she never again relinquished.

The unseeded Eala had four service breaks in total against just one by Konjuh. The Filipina also converted 67 points as against just 51 scored by Konjuh.

#ReadMore  Kai Sotto bids farewell to Ateneo, to focus on NBA dream

In the semifinals on Saturday, Eala will be facing either seventh seed local bet and world number 95 Oceane Dodin of France or Belgium’s Ysaline Bonaventure who just the previous week made the finals of the W60 Hamburg in Germany.

Eala and Bonaventure faced each other in the second round of that tournament, with the 28-year-old Belgian prevailing in straight sets over Eala.

Written By


You May Also Like

News

Rising talent Alex Eala and star player Diana Mae ‘Tots’ Carlos will share the spotlight at the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Awards...

News

Alex Eala is still a superstar in “The Heart of Volleyball.” The 18-year-old Filipina tennis prodigy was part of the Philippine volleyball record crowd...

19th Asian Games

Team Pilipinas finished in 17th place in the 2022 Asian Games. Although they brought home fewer medals compared to the 2018 continental meet (4...

19th Asian Games

Overachievement. That’s how tennis star Alex Eala described their performance after winning the bronze medal in the mixed doubles of tennis competitions on Friday...

19th Asian Games

Alex Eala suffered a 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6 defeat to Chinese top seed Zheng Qinwen but successfully ended the country’s 17-year medal drought in...

19th Asian Games

Alex Eala achieved one of the most remarkable comeback wins in Asian Games tennis history on Wednesday, securing another bronze medal for Team PH...

19th Asian Games

Alex Eala survived a marathon first set to defeat veteran Rutuja Bhosale of India, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the...

19th Asian Games

Alex Eala completely dominated Sarah Ibrahim Khan in her Asiad debut on Monday, defeating her Pakistani opponent with a resounding 6-0, 6-0 victory at...

Advertisement