By MARK REY MONTEJO
It all goes down to what Alex Eala said after her quarterfinal win over Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska: More than anything, it’s all about the mentality.
And Eala manifested it perfectly as she brushed aside a second-set stumble and notched a hard-earned 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 win over Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva to march into the finals of the WTA 250 Lexus Eastbourne Open in Great Britain Friday, June 27 (Manila time).
The 20-year-old Eala became the first-ever player from the Philippines – in both the men’s and women’s division – to reach the championship round of a WTA Tour-level singles tournament.
Eala already made a history after reaching semis twice – first in this year’s Miami Open where her fairy-tale run was spoiled by eventual runner-up American Jessica Pegula.
The Filipina hitter will face Australian Maya Joint, who beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova via a 7-5, 6-3 semis win, in the final this Saturday, June 28.
Vying under the cozy afternoon sun with seagulls flying around the British venue, Eala found her way to shine and soar to the top with her lovely touch and powerful double-fisted shots that her French foe couldn’t survive in the final set.
It was tough one for Eala as she needed to overcome a marathon opening set before recovering mightily from a lackluster second set showing.
“I’m sorry, no I’m super happy because like it was a tough match, so there were really tough moments where she was going well and sometimes [I] couldn’t you… know how to get out of it,” said Eala. “I’m really happy [with the win].”
It was a challenge for both of us physically and mentally you know we both came from qualifiers and… She’s a really solid player and had some moments where she was really dominating so the fact that I was able to stay there and wait for my opportunity is a big achievement for me today,” she added.
It was a remarkable journey for Eala who came from the qualifying rounds where she out-steadied American Hailey Baptiste (6-7 (7), 7-6 (7), 6-1) and Turkish Zeynep Sonmez (6-1, 6-3).
Then besting Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti (6-0, 6-1) and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, the 2021 edition champ, in the Last 32 and 16, respectively, before ousting Ukrainian Yastremska (6-1, 6-2) in the quarterfinal.
A great testimony to Eala’s adaptability and a great showing on the fast court that could lead her to a promising run in the prestigious Wimbledon these coming days.
Write to RV C. Lachica
