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Top seed Alex Eala battles back from a precarious three-game deficit in the second set as she sees off Russia’s Alina Charaeva to advance to the last eight of the Birmingham Open
MANILA, Philippines – It has been an auspicious start to the grass-court swing for Alex Eala so far.
Eala displayed steely nerves as she battled back from a precarious three-game deficit in the second set, pulling off a gritty 6-2, 7-5 over Russia’s Alina Charaeva to reach the quarterfinals of the Birmingham Open in the United Kingdom on Thursday, June 4.
The top seed Filipina climbed out of a 2-5 hole and won the last five games to beat Charaeva for the second time this year after also claiming a straight-sets victory in their first-round encounter in the Philippine Women’s Open in January.
“I was definitely in a tough spot in the second set but I’m proud that I stayed in there … and ultimately gave myself another chance to do better tomorrow,” said Eala.
Charaeva, ranked 130th in the world, had looked like on her way to forcing a decider as she turned a 2-2 deadlock in the second set into a commanding 5-2 lead.
But Eala slowly but surely chiseled away at her deficit, holding serve in the eighth game to get her groove back then breaking Charaeva twice to surge ahead at 6-5.
Eala then won three straight points in the 12th and final game before she sealed her victory in 1 hour and 40 minutes off an errant return by Charaeva.
After opening her Birmingham Open campaign with a 6-0, 6-2 demolition of Australia’s Priscilla Hon, Eala won consecutive games for the first time since she made the round of 32 of the WTA 1000 Italian Open in May.
Eala was coming off back-to-back losses to end the clay season, falling to Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova in the WTA 500 Strasbourg Open in France and to USA’s Iva Jovic in the French Open, the second Grand Slam of the year.
A familiar foe awaits Eala in the quarterfinals as she battles Thailand’s Mamanchaya Sawangkaew on Friday, June 5.
It will be a rematch of the women’s singles finals of the Southeast Asian Games in December in Thailand, where Eala made quick work of Sawangkaew to become the first Filipina to win the event since 1999.
A victory over the Thai will push Eala closer to her second WTA 125 crown, over half a year since she won her first one in the Guadalajara Open in Mexico in September. – Rappler.com
