Kayla Day of the United States will draw lessons learned from her former coach, Fil-Am netter Cecil Mamiit, when she meets Alex Eala in the semifinals of the Guadalajara 125 Open.
Mamiit, who used to be a part of the Philippine national team, was instrumental in Day’s career in 2021 and when she was turning pro back then.
Eala and Day will clash at 2 a.m. early Saturday morning (Philippine time).
The 20-year-old Eala got Day as her next opponent after getting past Italy’s Nicole Fossa Huergo, 7-6 (2), 6-2, early Friday morning in the quarterfinals.
It took her an hour to come up with a second victory in a day, moments after she prevailed in her rain-halted encounter with Varvara Lepchenko of the United States, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-3.
Day comes in confident in her encounter with Eala as she brings in Mamiit’s influence on her. The Fil-Am helped Day when she was still a struggling 16-year-old junior netter.
Now, the 25-year-old Day will draw instructions from present coach Kevin O’Neil in her bid to advance to the finals.
This is Eala’s first encounter with Day, who is slightly favored, after having won 16 of 21 matches played on hard court surfaces since 2023.
On the other hand, Eala has won 15 off 22 games played on hard court.
Day earlier pulled off a 7-5, 6-2, upset of third seed Emiliana Arango of Colombia to arrange a showdown with Eala.
Huergo unloaded six aces against Eala, but the Filipina netter managed to score 22 points off 32 first serves.
