MANILA, Philippines, December 9 ------ There would be no payback and no storybook season end for Alex Eala. The 19-year-old Eala could not sustain a strong start and hold on to a one-set advantage, falling in three sets to No. 1 seed Polina Kudermetova of Russia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, in the semifinal of the ITF W100 27th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge 2024 at the Habtoor Grand Resort in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Eala, the fourth seed who had shown marked improvement in her service game in the last two matches, succumbed anew to her waterloo as she was thoroughly outserved by the power-hitting Kudermetova, the younger sister of former world No. 9 and French Open quarterfinalist Veronika. Kudermetova fired 9 aces in the entire match which lasted an hour and 55 minutes.
After registering a season-high 11 aces in the second round and 4 in the quarterfinals, Eala found herself committing 8 double faults, giving Kudermetova enough free points to create some separation at crucial stages of the match. The biggest double fault happened in the seventh game of the third set. Down 2-4 but holding a 40-30 advantage on her serve with a chance to trim the deficit to just a game, Eala committed her eighth double fault that not only allowed the top-seeded Russian to tie at deuce, but also eventually break serve, to all but take the fight out of the Filipina.
It was a sorry loss for Eala, who got off to a fine start after breaking Kudermetova early and going up 3-0 in the first set. The Filipina standout closed out the opener in 10 games, and that turned out to be her last hurrah. Early on in the second set, the 21-year-old Kudermetova turned up her game a notch which the Filipina teen could not keep in step with. Eala had hoped to exact revenge on Kudermetova, who defeated her also in three sets in the semifinal of the ITF W50 Indore in India last February.
The Filipina was also looking to add another ITF W100 title to her trophy collection after posting the biggest triumph of her pro career last July when she emerged champion both in the singles and doubles of the ITF Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain. Early this year, Eala copped a doubles crown in the ITF W75 tournament in Croissy-Beaubourg, France last March, two months after winning her first pro doubles championship in the ITF W50 Pune in India. Now running 149th in the WTA rankings, Eala will end the year no longer as the No. 1 player in Southeast Asia, with the honor now belonging to Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand, who has risen to 128th.
Eala will have a few weeks of rest during the holidays before she plunges back into action in preparation for the Australian Open 2025 qualifiers set to start on January 6.
Source: rappler.com
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