When Alexandra Eala earns a Top 10 win, another often follows in short order. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one day after upsetting Elena Rybakina, the 21-year-old collected another, defeating World No. 8 Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour and 23 minutes to reach the Berlin semifinals for the first time.<\/p>\n
Berlin:\u00a0Scores<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Order of play<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Draws<\/a><\/p>\n The victory is the sixth Top 10 win of her career and sends her into her second grass-court semifinal. After failing to serve out the match on her first attempt, she steadied herself and held off a late push from Svitolina to secure her spot in the last four.<\/p>\n “Elina is a huge fighter, and I’ve seen it many times,” Eala said in her on-court interview. “I’ve been watching her since I was a kid, so to be able to compete with her today is such an honor, and I really admire her. She’s a mother, and I find her to act with such elegance and strength, and I’m really lucky to have had this match today.”<\/p>\n Next up is a second WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz meeting with Linda Noskova, who defeated Paula Badosa 6-1, 6-3 in 68 minutes earlier Friday to reach her second grass-court semifinal. It will be a rematch of their recent Indian Wells encounter, where Noskova dropped just two games.<\/p>\n Eala leads wire-to-wire in dominant display<\/p>\n Eala will be looking for a more competitive showing this time around against Noskova, and given her recent form, that appear more likely than not. The Filipina hardly put a foot wrong in the quarterfinal, finishing with 19 winners to just nine unforced errors and controlling the match from start to finish.<\/p>\n She again showed why she is one of the best returners on tour, breaking Svitolina five times. The first break gave her a 2-0 lead, which she stretched to 4-1 before Svitolina clawed back to 4-3. The momentum swing didn’t last long. Eala broke immediately, then struck a forehand winner in the next game to close out the opening set.<\/p>\n The cycle repeated in the second. Eala broke first for 2-0, Svitolina leveled for 2-all and Eala responded with another break for 3-2. A fourth break allowed her to serve for the match at 5-2, but Svitolina refused to go quietly and narrowed the deficit to 5-4, 0-30. It was all for naught, as Eala won the final four points, sealing the win with the backhand winner.<\/p>\n “That was the most difficult moment of the match,” Eala said. “It’s not easy, especially when she’s coming back and being more aggressive. Many factors come into play, but in the end, I was able to just conjure everything I had left in my brain, and it (ended) well.”<\/p>\n Noskova makes quick work of Badosa behind big serving day<\/p>\n As was the case for Eala, the result was never really in doubt for Noskova, who raced to a 4-0 lead against the Spaniard. Badosa saved three break points to get on the board at 4-1, but Noskova took the next two games to claim the opening set.<\/p>\n Noskova broke again for 3-1 in the second set, and that proved enough as she served it out from there. To call it a serving masterclass would be an understatement. She finished with eight aces and won more than 73% of her first-serve points (30 of 41). Though she faced seven break points, she saved all of them.<\/p>\n Beyond the dominance on serve, Noskova finished with 24 winners to just 11 unforced errors and outperformed Badosa in nearly every key statistical category.<\/p>\n She entered the match with a clear plan and executed it cleanly.<\/p>\n “I wanted to change directions a lot,” Noskova said in her on-court interview. “I wanted to go for it from the first serve and then (all) the points after. That was the plan for today.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Alexandra Eala earns a Top 10 win, another often follows in short order. 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