Alex Eala guns for 2nd career doubles title after ITF W75 Croissy-Beaubourg semis cruise

MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala put herself in a position on Friday, March 29, (Saturday, March 30, Manila time) to potentially bag a second career doubles title.

The Filipino teen standout continued her remarkable run with France’s Estelle Cascino as the duo scored a clinical 6-3, 6-3 win over Russia’s Kira Pavlova and Luxembourg’s Marie Weckerle in the semifinals of the ITF W75 Open 3C de Seine et Marne in Croissy-Beaubourg, France.

Eala and Cascino, who blasted second seeds Emily Appleton of Great Britain and Isabelle Haverlag of the Netherlands in the previous round, braced themselves for a tough final four battle against Pavlova and Weckerle – a pair coming off their own impressive quarterfinals upset of their third-seeded foes.

But the semifinals turned out to be only as close as Eala and Cascino would allow it to be.

The world No. 305 Eala and world No. 146 Cascino came out firing, jumping to a 3-0 lead and never allowing Pavlova and Weckerle to even the count in the opening set which was over in the ninth game.

Though the Filipina and French tandem dropped serve twice, they more than made up for it by breaking serve four times.

Pavlova and Weckerle finally gained the upper hand when they went up 2-1 in the second set. It would be their only taste of the lead as Eala and Cascino stormed back by securing the next three games to surge ahead, 4-2, before closing out again in the ninth game.

The finals scheduled on Saturday (Sunday, March 31, Manila time) will be another grind for Eala and Cascino, coming in as the live underdogs against top seeds Jessika Ponchet of France and Maia Lumsden of Great Britain.

Ponchet has been a fixture in the women’s doubles of the French Open, playing in the main draw every year since 2018. Lumsden, currently 77th in the world, made the women’s doubles quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2023.

This is the fourth time in 2024 that Eala has made at least the semifinals of women’s doubles in the pro circuit. Her best finish was in India when she and Darja Semenistaja of Latvia reigned as champions on January 27, in the ITF W50 Pune. – Rappler.com