Alex Eala weathered a fierce storm by beating Katy Dunne of England, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, in the semifinal of the W25 Aldershot women's singles tournament at the Aldershot Tennis Centre in England last Sunday.

The win put her on the cusp of bagging her fifth professional crown.

But the 18-year-old netter had to get the job done in two hours and 38 minutes to secure a final slot against Australian Destanee Aiava. They are slugging it out for the title at press time.

 survived two hours

Eala admitted making it to the final was tough and hard.

"I had to dig deep for today's win but we are back in the final!!" Eala said in a social media post.

Eala, ranked No. 248, is slightly favored to capture her third crown this year alone.

The odds are in Eala's favor as she had defeated Aiava, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the Rond of 16 of the W25 Roehampton singles tournament last 11 August.

The No. 270 WTA netter defeated Mariam Bolkvadze, 206, 6-3, 6-2, in a separate semis match to book showdown with Eala.

Eala is using her British exposure to prepare for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from 23 September to 8 October.