Philippines' Alexandra Eala reacts as she plays against Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova during their women's singles first round tennis match on the second day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 1, 2025. Glyn Kirk, AFP/File
MANILA (UPDATED) -- Filipina tennis star Alex Eala bowed out of contention in the Jingshan Open after a loss to New Zealand's Lulu Sun in the semifinals, Saturday afternoon.
The 24-year-old Sun overcame a loss in the opening set to eliminate Eala, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, and advance to the finals of the WTA125 competition.
There, Sun will be up against home bet Ma Yexin, who ousted Australia's Talia Gibson, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, in their own semifinal match.
It was a tough result for the top-seeded Eala, who failed to build on her win in the opening set and fell behind, 0-4, in the deciding frame.
Eala had gotten off to a strong start, capitalizing on Sun's double faults to take a 4-2 lead in the opener. She won another deuce game for a 5-2 lead and eventually closed the set on her third set point, 6-3.
But she squandered a 2-0 advantage in the second set as Sun, seeded third in the tournament, found her rhythm and strung together steady baseline rallies to level the match.
At 4-4, Eala came within two games of reaching the final, but Sun saved three break points and held her serve for a 5-4 lead, before breaking Eala in the next game to equalize.
Sun then dominated the third set to end Eala's hopes of another WTA125 title. She now holds a 2-0 head-to-head edge over the Filipina, having also beaten her in the qualifying stage of Wimbledon last year, 7-6, 7-5. -- report from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News