Cheered on by her legion of fans, Alexandra Eala beat Greek fourth seed Maria Sakkari in a three-set thriller to reach her first Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open final at Victoria Park.
Eala, from the Philippines, did not show any signs of fatigue following her late-finishing quarter-final against Antonia Ruzic on Friday and kept up her fighting spirit throughout her two-hour, 43-three minute, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, win over Sakkari.
In her second WTA Tour final this year, second-seeded Eala said: “The match was incredibly challenging and on such a good level, so I am super happy with that win. [With the rain breaks] it was about staying focused and keeping a positive mentality, and doing my best to be intense and have fun.”
Sakkari said: “It was a tough fight, and very equal until the very last game. It is disappointing but I just need to reset now, and be ready to go again next year. It was a good run but not as far [in the draw] as I would have wanted.”
Eala, 21, will now face Claire Liu in Sunday's final after the American beat qualifier Alexandra Shubladze 7-5, 6-4. Liu American has yet to drop a set this week, and will aim to win her maiden WTA Tour title against the world number 17 Eala.
"I am really glad to be having such a good week, especially to close out the year," Liu said."I feel this year I have been really happy with how I have been viewing myself in my game. I really enjoy being here in Hong Kong, the support from the fans has been really amazing. This is definitely one of my favorite tournaments I have played this year; I would love to come back.”
Meanwhile, the fairytale run of Hong Kong's Cody Wong Hong-yi and China's Jiang Xinyu came to an end after a 6-1, 6-1 defeat by the second seeds Chan Hao-ching and Miyu Kato in the doubles semi-finals. Chan and Kato will take on Talia Gibson and Maddison Inglis in the final.
