Alex Eala needed one day, two wins, and every ounce of grit she’s ever developed to punch her ticket to the semifinals of the Guadalajara 125 Open in Mexico.
The 20-year-old Filipina played catch-up with the weather and her own legs on Friday (pre-dawn Manila time), finishing a rain-delayed Round of 16 comeback and then, just hours later, gutting out a 7-6, 6-2 win over Italy’s Nicole Fossa Huergo in a quarterfinal match that played out in front of mostly empty seats but with unmistakable stakes.
Eala, who had clawed back against veteran Varvara Lepchenko before rain halted play Thursday, returned to the court ahead 3-2 in the third. She needed just a few games to finish the job, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, and moved on as if she hadn’t just spent two hours fending off the ghosts of missed chances.
But the real test came next.
In the quarters, Eala looked flat-footed early, falling behind 1-4 to Fossa Huergo. Her shots had weight but no rhythm. Then something clicked. She found her breath, her balance, her angles. From 1-4 down, she reeled the Italian back in, pulling level at 5-5, edging ahead 6-5, then surviving a tiebreak for a 7-6 first-set escape.
The second set was all business.
Eala sprinted to an early lead and never surrendered it, closing 6-2 to sweep the match. She won 71 total points to her opponent’s 52 and converted all four break points. Her lone ace paled next to Fossa Huergo’s seven, but the Filipina kept her game tighter: four double faults to the Italian’s seven.
With the win, Eala is the last seeded wild card standing in the USD125,000 tournament, and her chase for a maiden WTA title remains alive. She is set to face American Kayla Day in the semifinals, tentatively scheduled for the pre-dawn hours Saturday, Manila time.
The conditions have tested her, the draw has narrowed, and still, Eala remains focused on the prize. Her world ranking will surely rise from the current 75 with her last three wins in Guadalajara and even higher if she goes all the way.
The WTA 125 is the second-highest tier in women’s professional tennis, sitting below the main WTA Tour and above the ITF circuit. Success in these events earns players ranking points for WTA Tour entry. While titles are recorded separately from WTA Tour wins, match results still count toward a player’s official head-to-head and career win-loss record.
-0-
