Eastbourne Open: Eala makes history for Philippines by reaching final

Alexandra Eala became the first player from the Philippines to reach a WTA Tour final as she beat fellow qualifier Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 on the Eastbourne grass on Friday.

The 20-year-old left-hander, ranked 74th in the world, edged a tight first set before losing five games in a row in the second as the match appeared to be slipping away.

But she regrouped in the decider and survived a tough seventh game before breaking her French opponent’s serve to lead 5-3. She then enjoyed a love service game hold to seal victory.

In Saturday’s final she will face either Australia’s Maya Joint or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

“I’m super happy because that was a tough match and there were some really tough moments,” an emotional Eala, who is based in Mallorca and trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy, said on court.

“It was tough physically and mentally because she is a tough player and also came from qualifying.”

Eala’s run will not have gone unnoticed by reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, who has been drawn to play her in the first round at the All England Club next week.

Krejcikova reached the quarterfinals at Eastbourne but withdrew with a thigh injury on Thursday.