Alex Eala reached her second finals appearance this year after surviving third seed Arianne Hortono of the Netherlands, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-1, in the W25 Roehampton on Saturday night, Aug. 12 in Great Britain. 

The Filipina tennis star got over her scrappy start and bucked a second-set loss before turning back the Dutch in their delayed semifinals clash. 

“So excited to be in my second final of the year and first ever final here in London!” Eala wrote on social media. 

Last June, the 18-year-old Eala claimed the W25 Yecla title in Spain before officially graduating as a Rafa Nadal Academy scholar. 

Eala opened her campaign in the $25,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament with a dominant 6-3, 6-4 victory over Australian qualifier Gabrielle Da Silva-Fick before escaping her doubles partner Destanee Aiava, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, to see her through the Round of 16. 

The 2022 US Open singles girls champion hung tough to stun top seed Priscilla Hon of Australia, 6-2, 6-4, in their quarterfinals duel. 

Similarly, Eala also barged into the quarterfinals of the doubles event after teaming up with Aiava, where they succumbed to Australian pair Petra Hule and Talia Gibson, 6-1, 7-5.

Despite trailing 1-4 in the opening set, Eala managed to steady her ship and put herself on the verge of finals qualification.

However, Eala found herself in a similar 1-4 hole in the second set which got delayed, only this time, Hortono’s determined fightback ended in an equalizer. 

The sixth-seeded Eala, though, remained unfazed and breezed through the Dutch in the closing set for a dominant 6-1 finishing kick. 

The Filipina bet set up a title showdown against 33-year-old Arina Rodioniva of Australia, who defeated Yuriko Lily Miyazaki to clear the stage.