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Alex Eala barely avoids her first double bagel in 4 years as world No. 4 Coco Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam champion, advances to the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships
MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala and Coco Gauff could also be pleasant off the courtroom, however on it, the American star confirmed the Filipina no mercy.
Eala discovered no solutions for the ability and good shotmaking of the two-time Grand Slam champion as Gauff marched on to the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships with a lopsided 6-0, 6-2 win on Thursday, February 19 (Friday, February 20, Manila time).
World No. 4 Gauff received 10 straight video games from the get-go then stymied an Eala comeback to forestall the Filipina — her doubles associate within the 2025 Italian Open — from reaching the ultimate 4 of a WTA 1000 match for the second time.
“I might have served just a little bit higher however I made it in when it mattered,” stated Gauff, who dedicated eight double faults. “Alex is a troublesome competitor, and even once I was up, I knew that she might come again at any given second. I’ve seen her do it earlier than.”
Whereas Eala has had success in opposition to main winners as she shocked the likes of Poland’s Iga Swiatek, USA’s Madison Keys, and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko en path to advancing to her first WTA 1000 semifinals within the Miami Open final yr, Gauff proved to be a distinct beast.
A French Open and US Open titlist, Gauff dealt Eala her first bagel of 2026 then received the primary 4 video games of the second set on the best way to the swift victory that took simply 1 hour and seven minutes to complete.
Eala prevented her first shutout loss in 4 years, or since she suffered a 0-6, 0-6 defeat to Hungary’s Anna Bondar within the qualifiers of the 2022 Madrid Open, as she held serve then broke Gauff to chop her deficit to 2-4. Nevertheless, that solely delayed what appeared just like the inevitable.
Simply when the throng of Filipino followers lastly discovered a cause to cheer, Gauff rapidly silenced them and wrapped up the match by successful the subsequent two video games, with Eala sealing her exit with an errant forehand that marked her thirty third unforced error.
Gauff used the group to her benefit as she reached a WTA 1000 semifinals for the thirteenth time — her second in Dubai.
“I had an analogous match at French Open final yr so I introduced that mindset in the present day of simply attempting to, everytime you guys are cheering for Alex, I used to be pretending that it was my identify. I feel that it helped me rather a lot,” stated Gauff.
“For those who can’t beat them, you bought to affix them.”
Gauff will face the winner between Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina and Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic to get a shot on the title.
The loss ended a promising run by Eala, who barged into the quarterfinals by surprising world No. 8 Jasmine Paolini of Italy within the spherical of 32 and turning again world No. 32 Solana Cirstea of Romania within the spherical of 16. – Rappler.com
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