Eala makes Hong Kong final

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala booked her first final of the Asian swing, grinding out a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win over Greek veteran Maria Sakkari in a rain-interrupted semifinal at the WTA 250 Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open on Saturday.

Before a packed crowd at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium, the No. 2 seed and world No. 17 recovered from a second-set stumble and leaned on a 3-0 start in the decider to dispatch the fourth-seeded Sakkari in two hours and 43 minutes.

Sakkari, 31, fired 12 aces to Eala’s two and mounted one last push, rallying from 1-4 down to level the final set. But Eala held firm down the stretch, holding serve before breaking once more for the gutsy win.

“It was a lot of patience (because of the rain), but it also gave me time to really focus in on the next points. I’m really happy that I was able to come out of that a better player,” said Eala, who capitalized on Sakkari’s six double faults, most of them coming in the decider.

“I think the ability, mentality, and conscious choice to stay there and be positive was a really big point of my match today. I’m really happy, so I’m going to try to stay positive going into the final.”

The 21-year-old Filipina, chasing her second WTA Tour title, will face world No. 102 Claire Liu of the United States, who is enjoying a magical run as an unseeded entry. Liu advanced with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Russia’s Alexandra Shubladze, ranked No. 136.

Liu’s path to the final included upset wins over No. 8 seed Katie Boulter of Great Britain (No. 49) and Eala’s close friend Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey (No. 67).

For Eala, the semifinal against world No. 30 Sakkari was her first three-set match of the tournament, following a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 132 Emerson Jones of Australia, a 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) win over No. 85 Tereza Valentova of Czechia, and a 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 win over No. 81 Antonia Ruzic of Croatia.

Eala carried that momentum despite a shaky start, closing out the opener with three straight games to erase a set-point deficit and take it 7-5.

Sakkari, who cruised past Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals, flipped the script in the second set with a 3-0 start of her own to force a decider.

The second set dragged on amid three rain interruptions, similar to Eala’s nearly three-hour match against Valentova. Another brief pause came in the decider, but Eala was already riding a 3-0 run toward a breakthrough in the Asian swing after a series of stumbles.

Eala is looking to add to the maiden WTA Tour title she won in Washington last August.