FILE–Fillipino tennis player Alex Eala. –ALEX EALA FACEBOOK
MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala captured her first International Tennis Federation (ITF) doubles crown as a professional as she and her Latvian partner Darja Semenistaja ruled the W50 Pune on Saturday evening (Manila time) in India.
Eala and Semenistaja stunned the top-seed duo of Naiktha Bains of the United Kingdom and Fanny Stollar of Hungary in the final with a hard-earned 7-6(8), 6-3 victory.
The Filipino-Latvian pair needed to fight back from a 4-5 deficit before stealing the extended opening set from Bains and Stollar.
Eala and Semenistaja utilized their momentum and unleashed a rousing 5-2 start in the second set but the pair from the United Kingdom and Hungary stopped the bleeding. The No.4 seed tandem made sure to close out the championship match in the ninth game and prevail after an hour and 14 minutes.
It was the 18-year-old Eala’s first doubles title as a pro in her second ITF seniors final, following her runner-up finish in the $25,000 ITF tournament in Platja d’Aro, Spain last May 2021.
The Rafael Nadal Academy graduate, who has four ITF singles championships, won twice in Junior Grand Slam tournaments in the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 French Open and also earned three ITF junior doubles titles out of five final appearances.
Eala and Semenistaja had a solid $50,000 doubles campaign with a 6(7)-7, 6-1, 10-7 win over Eri Shimizu and Li Yu-yun in the first round before taking down Jessie Aney and Lena Papadakis in another three-setter in the quarterfinal, 6-4, 2-6, 10-4.
The eventual champions took down Japanese pair Saki Imamura and Naho Sato in the semifinal, 7-6(5), 6-3, on Friday.
Semenistaja eliminated Eala in the singles quarterfinal, 6(6)-7, 0-6, before winning in the semifinal doubles. But the Latvian netter bombed out of the W50 Pune after losing to Japanese Moyuka Uchijima in the semis.
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