MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis ace Alexandra 'Alex' Eala fell to Chinese Wang Xinyu, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, at the ASB Classic semifinal in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday.
World no. 53 Eala couldn't convert her match point in the ninth game and paid for it dearly in a battle that lasted for 2 hours and 48 minutes.
Coming back from a 1-5 deficit in the first set with six straight games won, Eala tried to replicate her magic in the deciding set but fell just short with her last two returns being too long that clinched it for world no. 57 Wang.
Eala trailed at 1-5 anew in the third frame but won three straight games to make things interesting but her fightback just wasn't enough.