MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala came agonizingly close to her first WTA final of the season but was edged out by China’s Wang Xinyu, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, in the semifinals of the WTA250 ASB Classic at the ASB Tennis Center in Auckland, New Zealand.
The No. 4 seed staged a remarkable comeback from a 0-4 deficit in the first set, only to see her energy wane in the next two, falling to the seventh-seeded Wang in a grueling nearly three-hour contest.
“It was a crazy battle from the start to the end. Alex is an absolute fighter for sure,” Wang said. “To be honest, I felt more pressure when I’m up 5-0 than we’re at love-love (0-0). I’m really happy to be through to the finals.”
The 20-year-old Eala, ranked No. 53 in the WTA, has now reached the semifinals three times in her young career but missed out on converting any of them into a title match. After leveling the first set, she suffered a costly second-set collapse, allowing Wang to take control. A late surge in the deciding set brought Eala within one game of forcing a decider, but Wang held firm to advance to the final against either No. 1 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine or No. 3 seed Iva Jovic of the United States.
Despite the loss, Eala also made the semifinals in doubles and is expected to climb to a career-high ranking of No. 48 in next week’s WTA update, boosting her season points to 1,159.
Eala now turns her attention to the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne from January 13 to 15, followed by her campaign at the Australian Open, which begins on January 18.
