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Tennis: Alex Eala reaches back-to-back ITF finals in Britain

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Rosy Mina

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Thailand Open presented by @E " src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/08/19/20230819-alex-eala-via-e.jpg"/><figcaption>Alex Eala at the WTA Thailand Open in Hua Hin. <em>2023 Thailand Open presented by @E </em></figcaption></figure></div><p>No. 3 seed Alex Eala stormed into her second consecutive final in Great Britain following her 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over home bet Katy Dunne at the W25 Aldershot semifinals on Saturday.</p><p>The 18-year-old Filipino, who won her fourth ITF crown at last week’s W25 Roehampton, trailed at 0-3 in the second match on Centre Court of the Aldershot Tennis Centre.</p><p>WTA World No. 248 Eala was able to break serve for 1-3 after her 28-year-old opponent committed two successive double faults.</p><p>Dunne, who is currently ranked 373rd, went on to break on her first set point, 6-1, by pouncing on Eala’s second serve with a backhand crosscourt winner.</p><p>After dominating the 32-minute opening set, Dunne called for a medical timeout.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/19/23/alex-eala-eases-into-fourth-semis-of-2023-in-aldershot">Tennis: Alex Eala eases into fourth semis of 2023 in Aldershot</a></li></ul><p>A few minutes later, the second set began with Eala turning the tables at 3-0 due to a Dunne forehand error.</p><p>Following a brief medical timeout, the British nine-time ITF singles winner powered through the next five games to be at 5-3.</p><p>Eala broke at 40-15 as Dunne was serving for the match, and the Filipino evened the score at 5-5 with a forehand down-the-line winner.</p><p>As both notched service holds for 6-6, they figured in a tiebreak where Eala gained a 4-2 edge after Dunne’s forehand crosscourt service return was called out.</p><p>The Filipino earned two set points on serve, and she screamed “Come on!” after she won the second set by forcing a netted service return, 7-6(4).</p><p>In the deciding third set, Eala rallied from 0-2 to 2-2, with the teenager receiving a very quick medical timeout after she held serve for 1-2.</p><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></ul><p>She saved four break points to be at 3-2 and broke serve at deuce for 4-2 with a precise backhand overhead crosscourt shot. </p><p>Eala proceeded to prevail with a service hold on her only match point, 6-3, to improve her head-to-head with Dunne to 2-0 and reach Sunday’s final against Australian sixth seed Destanee Aiava, who also posted a three-sets semifinal win.</p><p>The British ITF tilt, also called the W25 Aldershot GB Pro Series, offers $25,000 in total prize money.</p><p>Eala ousted British wildcard Ranah Akua Stoiber in the opening round (6-2, 6-4), World No. 338 Talia Gibson of Australia in the second round (4-6, 6-4, 6-3), and 556th-ranked Jenna DeFalco of the United States in the quarterfinals (6-1, 6-2).</p><p>The reigning US Open Juniors singles champion also joined the doubles event with Urszula Radwanska of Poland, whose sister is former World No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska.</p><p>They defeated Andre Lukosiute of Lithuania and Eliz Maloney of Great Britain in the first round (6-4, 6-4) and British top seeds Emily Appleton and Lauryn John-Baptiste in the quarters (6-3, 7-5), then faltered against No. 3 seeds Erina Hayashi and Saki Imamura of Japan in the semis (4-6, 4-6).</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></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=2222701" 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 stormed into her second consecutive final in Great Britain following her 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over Katy Dunne at the W25 Aldershot semifinals on Saturday.