YOUNG Filipino tennis star Alex Eala and Indonesian partner Priska Nugroho needled their way past the top-seeded pair of Linda Fruhvirtova and Kamilla Bartone to score a 1-6, 7-5, 10-8 win and advance to the finals of the Australian Open junior girls’ doubles on Thursday in Melbourne.
Given up for loss after a morale-draining first-set loss to the tournament heavyweights, Eala and Nugroho buckled down to work in the second set before calming the early rally of the Czech Fruhvirtova and Latvian Bartone in the decider.
Their hopes turned slim when Fruhvirtova and Bartone built a 7-1 wall in the third set which seemed insurmountable at that point.
But luck favored the side of the Filipino and Indonesian tandem as their foes committed three straight unforced errors, setting the path for a comeback by the Southeast Asian pair via a gritty 9-1 turnaround.
It was a sweet redemption for the world No. 9 Eala, a Rafael Nadal Academy scholar, after she exited in the third round of the singles competitions last Wednesday.
The duo await the winner of the other semifinal match between US’s Savannah Broadus and Elizabeth Coleman, and Slovenia’s Ziva Falkner and Britain’s Matilda Mutavdzic.
Eala and Nugroho disposed of the French duo of Aubane Droguet and Selena Janicijevic, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, in the quarterfinals.