Filipina teen sensation Eala caps year with semis finish in ITF W100 Dubai

Agency :

There would be no payback and no storybook season end for Alex Eala.

The 19-year-old Eala could not sustain a strong start and hold on to a one-set advantage, falling in three sets to No. 1 seed Polina Kudermetova of Russia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, in the semifinal of the ITF W100 27th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge 2024 on Saturday, December 7, at the Habtoor Grand Resort in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Eala, the fourth seed who had shown marked improvement in her service game in the last two matches, succumbed anew to her waterloo as she was thoroughly outserved by the power-hitting Kudermetova, the younger sister of former world No. 9 and French Open quarterfinalist Veronika.
Kudermetova fired 9 aces in the entire match which lasted an hour and 55 minutes.

After registering a season-high 11 aces in the second round and 4 in the quarterfinals, Eala found herself committing 8 double faults, giving Kudermetova enough free points to create some separation at crucial stages of the match.

The biggest double fault happened in the seventh game of the third set. Down 2-4 but holding a 40-30 advantage on her serve with a chance to trim the deficit to just a game, Eala committed her eighth double fault that not only allowed the top-seeded Russian to tie at deuce, but also eventually break serve, to all but take the fight out of the Filipina.