Alexandra Eala became the first player from the Philippines to reach a WTA Tour final as she beat fellow qualifier Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 on the Eastbourne grass on Friday.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old left-hander, ranked 74th in the world, edged a tight first set before losing five games in a row in the second as the match appeared to be slipping away.<\/p>\n
But she regrouped in the decider and survived a tough seventh game before breaking her French opponent’s serve to lead 5-3. She then enjoyed a love service game hold to seal victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Saturday’s final, she will face either Australia’s Maya Joint<\/a> or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I’m super happy because that was a tough match and there were some really tough moments<\/b>,” an emotional Eala, who is based in Mallorca and trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy, said on court.<\/p>\n “It was tough physically and mentally because she is a tough player and also came from qualifying<\/b>.”<\/p>\n Eala’s run will not have gone unnoticed by reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, who has been drawn to play her in the first round at the All England Club next week.<\/p>\n Krejcikova reached the quarter-finals at Eastbourne but withdrew with a thigh injury on Thursday.<\/p>\n