Alex Eala outlasts Varvara Gracheva in semis, reaches Eastbourne Open finals

Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - April 24, 2025 Philippines' Alex Eala reacts during her round of 64 match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Juan Medina

Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala is now a win away from the Eastbourne Open title after outlasting Varvara Gracheva of France in the semifinals, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, on Friday.

After the 20-year old Filipina player eked out a close win in the first set, Gracheva caught up and dominated Eala in the second set. In the third set, Eala and Gracheva were tied 3-3 first before the world no. 74 cruised to the victory in the match which lasted for two hours and 22 minutes.

This will be Eala's first WTA Tour finals appearance.

Finalist in Eastbourne ????

A first tour-level final for Alex Eala who takes out Gracheva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3!#LexusEastbourneOpen pic.twitter.com/BSc7cvCs8B — wta (@WTA) June 27, 2025

Prior to this match, Eala needed to win her first qualifying round matches against Zeynep Sonmez of Turkiye and top seed Hailey Baptiste of the United States. In the main draw, Eala outlasted Lucia Bronzetti of Italy in the first round, then Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia retired in their second round match which allowed the Filipina player to advance to the quarterfinals.

Eala then made quick work of Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska in the quarters before she defeated Gracheva in the semis.

Eala and Gracheva previously faced off in the first round of the Nottingham Open qualifying draw with the former winning, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News

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