Eala seals semis berth in Birmingham

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala reasserted her mastery of Southeast Asian rival Manangchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand, 6-3, 6-2, to barge into the Final Four of the WTA125 Lexus Birmingham Open early yesterday morning at the Edgbaston Priory Club in England.

The Filipina pride lived up to her lofty billing as the No. 1 seed, hardly breaking sweat and needing only 82 minutes to score a repeat win over the Thai bet after a 6-1, 6-2 win in the final of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.

That victory snapped a 26-year gold medal drought for a Filipina tennis player in the SEA Games.

This time in England, Eala ranks way higher at No. 37 than her No. 173-listed Thai rival, and it was on full display right out of the gates with an oozing 5-1 start marked by three break points.

Not even Sawangkaew’s good 2-1 start in the second set mattered for the determined lefty ace, who launched a 5-0 finishing kick to net a semifinal berth in her first grass tournament this season after a bumpy clay campaign.

Eala’s last Final Four entry was in the WTA250 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand earlier this year.

And she had the predominant Filipino crowd in Europe to thank for once more.

“The crowd was delightful and the club was very pretty. It’s fun to be out there on center court,” Eala told the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) Great Britain website ahead of another duel at the same court for a seat in the finale of the 125-level tour.

Standing in Eala’s way for her first WTA final since winning the Guadalajara Open last year in Mexico is No. 132 Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland in a rain-delayed match at press time. Masarova scored a gutsy 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 win over No. 146 Mary Stoiana of the United States in the other Last 8 pairing.