FILIPINO tennis ace Alex Eala entered the final of a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour event for the second time in her career.

Eala ousted American Kayla Day, 6-2, 6-3, in the Guadalajara Open semifinal at the Centro Panamericano de Tenis in Mexico early Saturday (Manila time) to enter the championship round.

This latest “Big Dance” entry followed Eala’s historic Eastbourne Open campaign in England, where she became the first Filipino to reach a WTA final in June.

Eala fell to Aussie Maya Joint, 4-6, 6-1, 6-7 (10-12) in the 250-tier event, a notch higher than this Guadalajara tiff at 125 — the base tier in the WTA tour.

World No. 75 Eala unleashed a down-the-line forehand off No. 418 Day’s return in the second set’s ninth game to finish the match at the Grandstand Caliente court in 69 minutes.

That won game punctuated Eala’s strong service attack, where she triumphed in seven of her nine service games.

Eala proved solid in breaking Day’s serve, too, going 5-of-8, including twice in the second set that put her ahead at 4-2.

Eala ousts Day, enters Guadalajara Open final

The 20-year-old Eala held serve the following game and the 25-year-old Day held hers in the eighth game before the Filipino finished the match by winning her service game in the ninth.

Seeded second in the tourney, Eala forged a rematch with Hungarian Panna Udvardy in the final on Sunday.

Eala ousts Day, enters Guadalajara Open final

Eala first battled world No. 134 Udvardy at the Oeiras Open in Portugal last April, losing to the 26-year-old in their round of 16 match, 6-7(4), 4-6.

Udvardy defeated Russian Maria Kozyreva, 6-3, 6-4, in the other semifinal match also on Saturday., This news data comes from:http://052298.com