Eala earns another shot at ending Czech curse in Birmingham Open

A CZECH-MATE puzzle now separates Alexandra “Alex” Eala from capturing her second queendom in the tennis world.

Not even a downpour could rain on Ms. Eala’s parade en route to her first final this year, pulling off a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win against Swiss Rebeka Masarova in the WTA 125 Lexus Birmingham Open in a rain-delayed marathon that carried over to Sunday morning in England to earn another shot at ending Czech curse.

With little to no breather though, the top-seeded Filipina will run smack to No. 5 seed and WTA No. 69 Nikola Bartunkova of Czechia, a country filled with stars boasting a 13-0 record against her, for the 125-level tour crown. Ms. Bartunkova hacked out a 6-4, 7-6(9-7) win over USA’s Ashlyn Krueger in a rain-interrupted match as well.

The duel is at press time and the 21-year-old rising star is hoping to flip the script — at long last — coincidentally against Ms. Bartunkova who served as her doubles partner in a 4-6, 6-2, 9-11 defeat against the second-seeded British pair of Harriet Dart and Maia Lumsden in Round 1 of the same tourney.

Her last Czech foe was world No. 10 Karolina Muchova, who scored a 6-0, 6-2 methodical win in Round of 16 of the Miami Open, underscoring the dominance of Czech players on the lefty ace from the Spanish Rafael Academy in Spain.

“Reaching the final is a physical feat. I’m feeling good. I think (Sunday) was a great test and I’ll be ready for the final,” said Ms. Eala after returning to the WTA finals for the first time in nine months.

Ms. Eala, WTA No. 37, battled No. 132 Ms. Masarova in a duel that lasted more than just the actual time of one hour and 52 minutes, adding toll in her herculean bid to win a second pro crown at the jaws of a Czech hurdle once more.

The match was interrupted thrice, including a lull for more than two hours due to heavy rains in Western England particularly when Ms. Eala was at match point with a 5-2 lead in the third set.

Ms. Eala, whose video sharing an umbrella with Birmingham ball girl amid the downpour went viral, dropped the eighth game of the rubber upon resumption but was quick to recover by holding serve for the win via deuce.

It’s a shot for Ms. Eala now at her second professional crown after ruling the WTA 125 Guadalajara Open in Mexico last September. Overall, it’s her third finals appearance after a bridesmaid finish in the Lexus Eastbourne Open, also a grass tourney in England last year.

Ms. Eala looked relentless for that bid right out of the gates by unleashing a 3-0 start that set the tempo in the match prior to Ms. Masarova’s retaliation in the second with a runaway from 2-2 deadlock.

It will be Ms. Eala’s third match in 48 hours after a 6-3, 6-2 repeat win over the Thai bet in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning, keeping mastery of her Southeast Asian rival after a 6-1, 6-2 win in the finals of the 33^rd Southeast Asian Games.

Before that, Ms. Eala also beat No. 143 Priscilla Hon of Australia, 6-0, 6-2, and No. 130 Alina Charaeva of Russia, 6-2, 7-5, in the first two rounds of the grass season’s first tourney leading up to the queen tournament that is the Wimbledon on June 29 to July 12 in London.

After Birmingham, Ms. Eala is also slated in the WTA 500 HSBC Championships in London, also known as the Queen’s Club Championships, on June 8 to 14, and the WTA 500 Bad Homburg Open on June 21 to 27 in Germany for a historic partnership with former world No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams. — John Bryan Ulanday