Filipino tennis player Alex Eala bowed to No. 3 seed Jessika Ponchet of France, 6-2, 4-6, 2-6, in the semifinal round of the W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz on Saturday in Spain.
It was Eala’s best showing at the W100 level after posting second-round results in 2022 at the Shrewsbury qualifiers in Great Britain and Grodzisk Mazowiecki main draw in Poland.
She hacked out tough wins in Vitoria-Gasteiz over Romanian fifth seed Jaqueline Cristian in the opening round, 7-6(5), 6-7(1), 6-2; Chinese qualifier Tianmi Mi in the second round, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-0; and Spanish Lucia Cortez Llorca in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
Ponchet kept her lead over Eala in their head-to-head, 3-1, and advanced to the final against Ukrainian sixth seed and World No. 155 Daria Snigur.
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