Alex Eala stumbled in her bid of a fourth pro title after yielding to a familiar foe in the semifinal of the W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in Spain on Saturday, July 22.

Alex Eala loses in her semifinal match against Frenchwoman Jessika Ponchet. (File Photo/Alex Eala Facebook)

The unseeded Eala failed to sustain her hot start and succumbed to third seed Jessika Ponchet of France, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, in the $100,000 tournament.

It was the fourth time that Eala and Ponchet are meeting in the ITF circuit, with the Filipina bet bowing to her French rival for the third time.

The last time Eala won against Ponchet was in October last year in the opening round of the W80 Poitiers in France, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (6).

It was a tough loss for Eala as she could have set up a championship duel with sixth seed Daria Snigur of Ukraine, who drubbed Chinese seventh seed Bai Zhouxuan, 6-3, 6-3.

Still, it was Eala’s best performance in the $100,000 event.

She threaded through all her matches in deciding sets, starting with Romania’s Jaqueline Adina Cristian in the opening round, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (1), 6-2; China’s Mi Tianmi in the second round, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-0; and Spain’s Lucia Cortez Llorca, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

Eala was also unsuccessful in the doubles with Spaniard partner Marina Bassols Ribera, losing in the quarters to France’s Estelle Cascino and Latvia’s Diana Marcinkevica, 7-5, 1-6, 11-9.