Lightwork for young star: Alexandra Eala safely through to Jingshan Tennis Open semi-final as she seeks second WTA title

Alexandra Eala confirmed her spot in the Jingshen Tennis Open semi-finals after getting the better of Lu Jiajing 6-4, 6-1.

The 20-year-old is one of tennis's brightest stars, with her already making history for her home country, the Philippines, by becoming the first player to reach the final and win a WTA Tour event, completing that in the 125 event in Guadalajara. She could have done it sooner at the Eastbourne Open, where she reached the final as a qualifier, but squandered multiple match points to lose to fellow young star Maya Joint in three sets.

Even before this, she burst onto the scene with an incredible run to the Miami Open semi-finals as a wildcard. In the 1000 event, she defeated former Grand Slam finalist Jelena Ostapenko, along with Grand Slam champions Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek, to set up a tie with American number two Jessica Pegula, who proved to be too strong for her. She also managed to qualify for the latter three Grand Slams, winning her maiden major match at the US Open against the highly touted Clara Tauson, firmly placing her name on the tennis map. After disappointment in Sao Paulo, she is determined to clinch her second WTA title in Jingshen.

It has been a comprehensive tournament for the Filipina so far, overcoming Aliona Falei and Mei Yamaguchi in straight sets to set up a quarter-final clash with Chinese home-favourite Lu. The Chinese unseeded athlete was the first to take command in the match, breaking the serve on the way to going 4-2 ahead. However, she would not be able to keep this up, as Eala clinically won the remaining four games in the first set, finding her third match point on the Lu serve to take a slender advantage.

It was much more routine for the Eala in the second set. She was broken in the first game as Lu mounted a fightback, but it would be a tame one at best as Eala went on to win all the remaining games without much fuss, taking her first match to send her through to the semi-finals.

Her opponent will be 2024 Wimbledon quarter-finalist Lulu Sun, who comes into the event as the number three seed. She has also been flawless throughout, defeating Tyra Caterina Grant, Ru Xi Wu, and Elena Pridankina without dropping a set. The winner wil face one of Talia Gibson or Yexin Ma for the title.