Berlin breakthrough gives Alex Eala momentum ahead of Wimbledon

The clock might have struck midnight on Alex Eala’s impressive run in the Berlin Open, but the Filipina ace is leaving the German capital with renewed confidence and momentum just a little more than a week before Wimbledon.

The 21-year-old Filipina produced one of the finest grass-court campaigns of her young career, reaching the semifinals of the WTA 500 event while toppling Top-10 ranked players along the way.

Eala opened her main-draw campaign with a straight-set victory over Donna Vekic before pulling off a stunning 7-5, 6-4 upset of world No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the Round of 16.

She followed it up with another statement performance, defeating world No. 8 Elina Svitolina, 6-3, 6-4, in the quarterfinals to reach her first career grass-court semifinal at WTA Tour level.

The victories against Rybakina and Svitolina were her fifth and sixth victories against Top-10 players, reminiscent of her run in the Miami Open last year when she defeated then No. 2 Iga Swiatek and No. 5 Madison Keys. She also defeated former No. 5 Jelena Ostapenko in the same tournament.

Her other two victories against Top-10 players were against No. 4 Coco Gauff at Indian Wells and former No. 8 Jasmine Paolini in the Dubai Tennis Championships.

“Can’t begin to describe all the emotions I’ve experienced this week, my heart is full! I am forever GRATEFUL Berlin, you are so so special, thank you!,” said Eala in an Instagram post after absorbing a 6-2, 6-4 loss against Linda Noskova.

In the contest, Eala, who seemed to be bothered by what appeared to be a shoulder and elbow injury, struggled with her returns as Noskova took advantage with 33 winners throughout the match.

Still, it was an impressive run for Eala, who bagged €57,395 (around P3.9 million) and gathered a total of 195 ranking points to land in the Top 30 of the WTA rankings.

Eala turns her focus to the Bad Homburg Open before Wimbledon, which is set to fire off on June 29.

Click here to read article