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Tennis: Alex Eala eases into fourth semis of 2023 in Aldershot

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Rosy Mina

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt=" Alex Eala of Philippines trains during the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 24, 2021 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Matthew Stockman, Getty Images via AFP/File." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/08/19/20210324-eala-alex-afp-1308954195.jpg"/><figcaption>Alex Eala of Philippines trains during the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 24, 2021 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Matthew Stockman, Getty Images via AFP/File.</figcaption></figure></div>Third seed Alex Eala of the Philippines secured her fourth semifinal berth of the season by breezing past her quarterfinal match at the W25 Aldershot, Friday in Great Britain.After battling for almost three hours in her second-round match the day before, Eala dispatched Jenna DeFalco of the United States, 6-1, 6-2, in one hour and 28 minutes at the Aldershot Tennis Centre.WTA World No. 248 Eala zoomed to 3-0 via a love service hold, and the 556th-ranked DeFalco got on the scoreboard by holding serve after two deuces.The 18-year-old Filipino proceeded to be at 5-1 by overcoming three deuces in the fifth game and five deuces in the sixth game, where she broke serve with a clean backhand.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/18/23/alex-eala-gains-quarterfinal-spot-at-w25-aldershot">Tennis: Alex Eala gains quarterfinal spot at W25 Aldershot</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/17/23/tennis-eala-soars-into-singles-r2-doubles-semis-at-w25-aldershot">Tennis: Alex Eala soars into singles R2, doubles semis at W25 Aldershot</a></li></ul>Eala, who clinched her fourth ITF women’s title at the W25 Roehampton on Sunday, served out the first set at 40-30 after DeFalco netted a return, 6-1.The reigning US Open Juniors champion maintained her lead in the second set, 3-1, by holding serve on the third deuce.She advanced to 4-1 after two-time ITF titlist DeFalco, 20, dropped her serve with a long backhand.Eala moved closer towards victory by holding serve for 5-1 due to a DeFalco backhand service return error. The American was able to hold as she was serving to stay in the match to trail at 2-5, but Eala bounced back by gaining two match points in the eighth game.DeFalco caught up to deuce until Eala earned her third match point on the first advantage, and the Filipino teen claimed the match, 6-2, due to a netted forehand.In the semifinals on Saturday, Eala will face 28-year-old Katy Dunne of Great Britain in the second match on Centre Court.The World No. 373, who peaked at 212th in 2018, has nine titles on the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour.Eala holds a 1-0 head-to-head against Dunne due to a first-round comeback victory in June, which began her triumphant campaign at the W25 Yecla in Spain.Just like the Yecla tournament, the W25 Aldershot is offering $25,000 in prize money.Eala’s singles run at Aldershot kicked off with a 6-2, 6-4 elimination of British wildcard Ranah Akua Stoiber.This was followed by a grueling 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory versus World No. 338 Talia Gibson of Australia. In the doubles draw, Eala partnered with 32-year-old Urszula Radwanska of Poland, the younger sister of former WTA World No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska.They ousted Andre Lukosiute of Lithuania and Eliz Maloney of Great Britain in the opening round, 6-4, 6-4, and British No. 1 seeds Emily Appleton and Lauryn John-Baptiste in the quarters, 6-3, 7-5.The Filipino-Polish tandem then fell short to Japanese third seeds and eventual runners-up Erina Hayashi and Saki Imamura in the semifinals, 4-6, 4-6.<div> RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1730246" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Alex Eala secured her fourth semifinal berth of the season by breezing past her quarterfinal match at the W25 Aldershot, Friday in Great Britain.