By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala outlasted another tough foe in Spaniard Lucia Cortez Llorca, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, to book a semifinal berth in the W00 Vitoria-Gasteiz International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in Spain on Friday, July 21 (Saturday in Manila).
It was Eala’s third straight match that went to a decider, enduring Llorca’s persistent attacks to book a place into the next round of the $100,000 event.
The win set her up a semis date with a familiar foe in third seed Jessika Ponchet of France, who also bounced back from a second-set stumble to defeat Russian Valeria Savinykh, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-0.
This will mark the fourth time that Eala and Ponchet with the Filipina ace out to even their head-to-head duel.
One thing going for Eala is that she appears to have the numbers of Ponchet, having beaten her 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (6) in the W80 Poitiers in October last year.
Their previous meetings were in the second round of the W25+H Palma Del Rio and the semifinal of the W60 Vitoria-Gasteiz in July last year, where Ponchet prevailed in straight sets.
