ALEX Eala’s gallant stand against World No. 23 Qinwen Zheng wasn’t enough as she stumbled against the home bet in a three-hour netfest, 1-6, 7-6(5), 3-6, in the semifinals of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Thursday.
Alex Eala Asian Games semis recap
Going up against her toughest opponent yet, Eala looked gassed by the deciding set after clawing back from a 2-5 deficit in Set 2.
Though things looked optimistic for the 18-year-old Filipina in Set 3, when she broke Zheng’s serve to take the early 3-1 lead, costly unforced errors, including double faults, helped the top-seed restore order.
Previously, Zheng didn’t drop a set in the whole tournament, before going up against the Filipina tennis phenom, who is ranked only No. 191 in the WTA rankings.
Even as she fell short, Eala drew the admiration of many as she dragged the tournament top-seed Zheng into the deep water.
In the second set, Eala saved multiple match points down 2-5, before staging a spirited comeback to tie the set 5-all.
Eala then returned anew from being down 5-6 to force the tiebreak and win the set by a hair, 7-6(5).
But the Filipina, who was competing in both women’s singles and mixed doubles for the past couple of days, just could not get enough out of the tank as Zheng made her run in Set 3.
Still, Eala doesn’t go home empty-handed as she claims the bronze medal in her maiden Asiad appearance.
She competes again later today in mixed doubles with Niño Alcantara where they hope to move on to the semifinals.
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