Alex Eala remains in the race for two Vitoria-Gasteiz titles

ALEX Eala’s double title run at the W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz continues to shine as she reached the doubles final and singles semi-finals at the Spanish tournament on Friday.

Eala first survived a tough opening set against Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva and reached the semifinals in the singles, winning a two-hour and twenty-minute netfest in straight sets: 7-6(5), 6-4.

PHOTO: Patrick Romero

The 19-year-old recovered from deficits late in the first set when she trailed 4-5, and then again 6-5, but remained steadfast as she held serve in Game 12 to force the tiebreak, taking early control with a 5-2 lead and never looking back.

In Set 2, Eala broke away from a 4-4 tie and regained the lead after two deuces in Game 9 to take a 5-4 lead. She then finished it off by breaking the Ukrainian’s serve in Game 10.

No problems in doubles for Alex

She later achieved another victory in doubles when she and her French partner Estelle Cascino reached the championship match by defeating Maria Jose Portillo Ramirez and Noelia Zeballos Melgar 6–2, 6–3.

On Saturday, she will face Portillo Ramirez again in the singles semi-final, after which she and Cascino will face Lia Karatancheva and Diana Marcinkevica in the doubles final.

Eala is aiming for her third ITF doubles title and at the same time her fifth overall singles championship.

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