Alex Eala advances to Jingshan Open semifinals

(UPDATE) ALEX Eala secured a spot in the semifinals of the WTA 125 Jingshan Open in China after a decisive victory over hometown bet Lu Jiajing, 6-4, 6-1, on Friday.

This is the second time Eala clinched a semifinal berth in the WTA 125 tournament after her successful title-run in the Guadalajara Open in Mexico last Sept. 7.

The 35-year-old Lu held an early lead over the top-seeded Eala in the first set, but the Filipina stormed back after breaking from a 4-4 deadlock, and hammered two consecutive swings to take the first set.

In the second frame, Eala wasted no time and pounded more loaded hits against the Chinese netter for a huge 6-1 victory.

Earlier, Eala defeated Aliona Falei of Belarus in the first round (6-3, 7-5) and Mei Yamaguchi of Japan in the second round (6-0, 6-3) to reach the quarterfinal round.

With the victory, the 20-year-old Eala will clash with third seed Lulu Sun of New Zealand in the semifinals.

The 24-year-old Sun is 88 spots behind No. 58 Eala in the world rankings.

However, Sun has a familiarity with Eala’s match as they are both southpaw netters, and has faced each other in the 2024 Wimbledon Championships where Sun defeated Eala, 7-6 (3), 7-5 in the qualifying round.

The Kiwi reached a career-high WTA ranking of No. 39 in September 2024 after reaching the quarterfinals of the 2024 Wimbledon Open and defeated tough contenders such as eighth seed Zheng Qinwen and 2021 champion Emma Raducanu.

The Filipina bet, meanwhile, had a loaded schedule in 2025 and was in the peak of her form after capturing her maiden WTA title in the Guadalajara Open and a quarterfinal finish in the Sao Paulo Open in Brazil.

Eala, continuously etched her name in the history of tennis after numerous feats, with huge wins against Grand Slam champions Iga Swiatek, Madison Keys, and Jelena Ostapenko to reach the semifinals of the Miami Open last Match.

After barging her way into the top 100 in the world rankings, she became the first-ever Filipino to join the French Open and the Wimbledon Open.

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