Eala falls short vs Chinese foe in WTA Canberra International semis

MANILA, Philippines -- Alex Eala has bowed out of the WTA Canberra International after running out of gas against China's Wei Sijia, 5-7, 2-6, in their semifinal matchup Friday in Australia.

Eala grinded it out in the first set but eventually faltered. While she showed signs in the second set, she could not overcome a mountain of deficit.

The Filipina went up 5-4 in the first set as the two could not get separation from each other.

However, Wei powered through and won the next three games to take the first set and go within a set from the finals.

Come the second set, the Chinese simply could not be stopped.

She won the first five games, until the 19-year-old Asian Games bronze medalist won the next two games to pump life back into her flickering hopes of making it to the tourney’s final.

But the 21-year-old Wei could not be denied as she punched her ticket to the gold medal match.

Eala had an impressive route to the semifinals, winning both her qualifying matches against hometown bets Catherine Aulia and Alana Subasic.

She then swept Austria’s Sinja Kraus and the Netherlands’ Arianne Hartono before digging deep against Australia’s Talyah Preston in the quarters.

Wei will be taking on Japan’s Aoi Ito in the final.