Eala falls short of Canberra final

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala’s dream run came to an abrupt end at the hands of China’s Sijia Wei, absorbing a 7-5, 6-2 loss to crash out of the Workday Canberra International yesterday in Australia.

The 19-year-old Filipina, on the heels of five straight wins all the way from the qualifying round, stood her ground early on with a crucial lead in the first set before yielding the last three games to the higher-ranked Wei, WTA No. 134.

The WTA No. 147 Eala held a 5-4 cushion in the extended opener but surrendered the next three games, paving the way for Wei to capitalize on the momentum and race to a 5-0 start in the second frame en route to the win.

Wei, 21, finished the match in one hour and 28 minutes to barge into the finale against the No. 7 seed Aoi Ito of Japan.

Ito, WTA No. 126, stunned No. 1 seed and WTA No. 91 Nuria Parrizas Diaz with a sweeping 6-2, 6-2 semis victory in only 69 minutes.

Despite the defeat, the unseeded Eala had a commendable run in Canberra that should serve handy for her Australian Open stint.

Like in Canberra, Eala will slug it out in the qualifying round starting next week for a ticket in the main draw on Jan. 12-26 in Melbourne.

Eala, out to become the first Filipina player to ever play in a Grand Slam main draw after falling short in the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open last year, is hoping to replicate her resilience in Canberra marked by five wins in a row to gain a Final Four finish.

She beat home bets Catherine Aulia, 6-1, 6-2, and Alana Subasic, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1, in the qualifiers before besting Austria’s Sinja Kraus, 6-2, 6-4, Arianne Hortono of the Netherlands, 6-3, 6-3, and Australia’s Taylah Preston, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, in the main tournament.