Alex Eala isn’t letting her guard down as she is two wins away from ruling the Birmingham Open in England.
The 21-year-old Eala is battling against Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland as of press time.
Eala, who is seeded No. 1 in this prestigious Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 125 tournament, is coming off a convincing 6-4, 6-2 win over Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand in the quarterfinal.
“I’ll take the experience that I got from this match,” Eala said.
“It will be a tough match. She (Marasova) is very skillful and very powerful, so I’ll do my best to recover tonight and give my all tomorrow. The crowd is delightful, the club is very pretty, and it’s fun to be out there on center court.”
The Rafael Nadal Academy graduate’s result is now at par with her semifinal finish in the Auckland Open in New Zealand last January.
Should she be successful, it will be Eala’s first title in a grass court competition after settling for a runner-up finish in the Eastbourne Open last year.
Eala has yet to drop a set in the Birmingham Open, opening her campaign with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Priscilla Hon of Australia in the Round of 32.
She went on to sweep Alina Charavea of Russia, 6-2, 7-5, in the Last 16 to book a match against Sawangkaew.
If Eala wins, she will face the winner between Nikola Bartunkova of the Czech Republic or Ashlyn Krueger of the United States in the final on Sunday.
A win here would boost Eala’s morale as she competes in the Queens Club Championships next in London on 8 June.