Croatian-Chinese standout Lulu Sun once again stood out with her energetic game, as she went on to stop and upset Filipina top seed Alexandra Eala, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, on Saturday in the women’s singles semifinals of the WTA 125 Jingshan Tennis Open.
The 24-year-old Sun, who plays under the New Zealand banner, pushed Eala to the limit in the third set with her relentlessness, racing to a 4-0 lead.
But the world no. 56 Eala did not go down that easy, as she engaged Sun in a series of long exchanges in the second, third and fifth games.
Eala finally scored her first match point in the third set and trailed 1-4 after Sun committed a net error.
Sun displayed swift footwork which allowed her to disrupt Eala’s aggressive baseline game with her sudden attacks at the net, and this eventually allowed her to come within match point, 5-1.
It was Sun’s second straight win over Eala, after she ousted the Filipina netter in the qualifying round of the Wimbledon netfest last year.
The 5’8” Sun was done with Eala in 133 minutes, and she advanced to the finals against Chinese pro Ma Ye Xin.
Ma reached the finals following a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 upset of second seed Australian Talia Gibson, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Despite the loss, the 20-year-old Eala went on to earn 49 WTA points and US$7960 (around P462,215).
During the match, Sun unleashed four aces, and scored 27 points out of 47 first serves, while Eala made 31 points off 56 first serves.
