ALEX Eala moved to within two wins of clinching her second WTA 125 crown after booting out hometown favorite Jia-jing Lu of China, 6-4, 6-1, in the quarterfinals of the Jingshan Open on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, at the Jingshan Tennis Center.
After trailing 2-4 in the opening set, Eala broke Lu twice in a row to seize control, then stormed through five consecutive games in the second to seal her place in the semifinals.
The win set up a highly anticipated rematch between the top-seeded Filipina tennis icon against Lulu Sun of New Zealand in the Final Four today, Saturday, Sept. 27.
Sun, ranked No. 146 in the world, secured her spot in the semifinals after frustrating unseeded Russian player Elena Pridankina, 6-2, 6-4.
Eala has extra motivation for their rematch as she fell to Sun, 6-7, 5-7, in the third round of Wimbledon qualifying last year.
Chinese Ye-Xin Ma also advanced after pulling off a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Japanese Rina Saigo.
Ma will face second seed Talia Gibson of Australia, who defeated En-Shuo Liang of Chinese Taipei 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.
The 20-year-old Eala, who debuted on the WTA Tour in 2021, won her first title at the Guadalajara 125 Open in Mexico last Sept. 7, beating world No. 134 Hungarian Panna Udvardy, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
To reach the final, she prevailed over American Kayla Day, 6-2, 6-3 (semis); Italian Nicole Fossa Huergo, 7-6 (2), 6-2 (quarterfinal); American Varvara Lepchenko, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-3 (2nd round); and Dutch Arianne Hartono, 6-2, 6-2 (1st round).
At the 2025 Miami Open in March, Eala defeated Grand Slam champions Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, Madison Keys of the US, and Iga Swiatek of Poland to reach the semifinal round, eventually losing to American Jessica Pegula, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 3-6.
Eala reached her first WTA final at the Lexus Eastbourne Open in June, bowing to Australian Maya Joint, 4-6, 6-1, 6-7 (10).
Last month at the US Open, Eala survived world No. 14 Carla Tauson of Denmark, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11), in the first round to become the first Filipino to win a main draw match at a Grand Slam event. But she failed to advance after losing to Spanish Cristina Bucsa, 4-6, 3-6, in the second round.
Eala, a graduate of the Rafael Nadal Academy, won the US Open junior girls’ singles title in 2022. / LBG WITH PNA