Eala overcomes first-set woes, beats home bet to reach Jingshan semis

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Alex Eala stormed back from a 2-4 first-set deficit to stun China’s Lu Jiajing, 6-4, 6-1, to march to the semifinal round of the ongoing Jingshan Open on Sept. 26, 2025, in Hubei, China.

After conceding a service hold and a missed chance to break the home bet, Eala found herself in deep waters when Lu built a two-point lead, 4-2, and moved two games away from taking the opener from the Filipina ace.

However, Eala’s signature never-say-die mantra once again rose to the occasion as she grinded her way out of the hole to level the first set at 4-all.

Eala gave the Chinese star a dose of her own medicine with the same sequence: a held service possession to inch close and a momentum-boosting break point that deadlocked the affair.

Just like what they say, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Despite the pressure-packed situation that Eala was in, the 20-year-old stalwart never failed to amaze her fans with a comeback war cry as she left Lu in the dust with an impressive 4-0 closeout run.

Eala kicked off her rally by minimizing her first-ball return errors as well as maintaining her composure in dealing with Lu’s high-clear lobs during the baseline exchanges.

As soon as Eala re-aligned her focus on the task at hand, everything just fell her way—she picked the home bet apart with her powerful baseline drives to reverse her fortunes.

The second set was a lopsided beating after Eala bullied Lu with her deep offensive bags, capped off by two break points to finalize her seat in the semifinals of the tournament.

Before arranging the quarterfinal showdown against Lu, Eala earned wins against Belarusian Aliona Falei and Mei Yamaguchi of Japan.

Awaiting Eala in the semifinals is New Zealand’s Lulu Sun, who swept Elena Pridankina to arrange the Final Four clash.