Wang shows Eala end of road in ASB semis
AUCKLAND—Top-seeded Elina Svitolina will play in the final of the WTA Tour’s ASB Classic for the second time after turning back American teenager Iva Jovic, 7-6 (5), 6-2, on Saturday.
The 13th-ranked Svitolina also reached the final in 2024 when she lost to American Coco Gauff. This time, Svitolina will be shooting to win the title over seventh-seeded Wang Xinyu of China, who beat fourth-ranked Alex Eala of the Philippines 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 in the other semifinal.
“It was a crazy battle from the start to the end, for sure,” Wang said after the match. “She’s an absolute fighter, and to be honest, I feel more pressure when I’m up 5-0 than when we were love-love.
“I’m just really happy that I got through this one today and through to my first ever final [here].”
Svitolina looked a little weary at first after an almost three-hour quarterfinal against Sonay Kartal on Friday night, which she won, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
“It’s nice to get a straight-sets win,” Svitolina said. “Yesterday was a big battle and today as well in the first set.
“Iva was playing really well and I had to really fight back, dig deep and try to find my level and I’m very happy to be able to finish this match in two sets to save some energy for the finals.”
Crucial breaks
She dropped serve twice in the first three games against the eighth-ranked Jovic to trail 3-0. Svitolina broke back twice to level at 4-4, then dropped serve again, allowing Jovic to serve for the first set at 5-4.
But Jovic lost her serve to love and Svitolina took the set to a tiebreak in which she led 6-1 before taking the set on her third opportunity.
She made short work of the second set, breaking Jovic in the third and fifth games and sealing the match with two aces in her final service game.
Svitolina has been supported all week by her husband Gael Monfils, who will play in the men’s tour event in Auckland starting on Monday.
Meanwhile, Eala saw the end to her road in Wang, the 57th-ranked player in the world, who saved a match point in the second set against the Filipino ace before gutting out the win in two hours and 38 minutes.
It was such a painful way for Eala to go after she had rallied from 1-5 down to win the first set. She was up 5-3 in the second set only to hit a forehand long, an error that eventually gave the Chinese the momentum for the turnaround. —WITH REPORTS FROM AP
