Alex Eala needed to dig deep to beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 and advance to her first final of the season at the Birmingham Open, surviving a fightback and multiple rain delays before turning the match around late.
Just after midnight Manila time, Alex Eala’s Birmingham Open run kept moving—but not without cost.
The top-seeded Filipina had eased into her semifinal and looked headed for another smooth night after a dominant start against Swiss Rebeka Masarova. Instead. the first real pressure arrived quickly: Masarova regrouped. pushed back. and turned it into a long. exhausting battle that stretched past hours of disruption from the rain.
Eala still got the win, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, punching her ticket to her first final of the season. After the match, she sounded relieved—happy, but shaken by how unpredictable it had become.
“Really happy with the win today. It was such a great experience,” Eala said during the post-match interview.
“It was such a tough battle today. You’ll never know what’s gonna happen. Rebeka played really well, and she put me in tough spots,” she added.
The question was never only whether Eala could win. It was whether she could stay steady when the rhythm of the match kept breaking. Eala arrived with momentum, having won her first three matches in sweeping fashion, and she opened the semifinal looking like she might do the same again.
Then Masarova found a different gear. The Swiss raised the pressure, and the match grew even more punishing after several rain delays. Those interruptions led to a pair of suspensions lasting for hours — turning the semifinal into something closer to a test of endurance than a straight contest of form.
Eala’s composure mattered most when the timing swung against her. She was up 5-2 when the rain poured and suspended the match for a second time.
“I tried to relax. You never fully let go when it’s a rain delay,” Eala said during the extended breaks.
When play resumed, she didn’t lose control of the moment. Masarova mounted one last rally after taking the eighth game of the deciding set, but the finish belonged to Eala.
In the ninth game, with Eala down 15-30, she forced a deuce and then kept Masarova under pressure—eventually leading to back-to-back errors from the Swiss. That sequence sealed Eala’s spot in the title round.
The final will arrive with a new kind of challenge: Nikola Bartunkova. the Czech player who will face Eala for the Birmingham Open title. Bartunkova also served as Eala’s doubles partner in Birmingham. and she and her pairing partners had lost their first match last Monday. Even so, the singles meeting is what matters now—and for Eala, it comes with a difficult history.
Eala is 0-13 against Czechs since turning pro in 2020.
Still, Eala looked determined to treat the semifinal as proof she can handle the hardest parts of a match.
“Reaching the final is a physical feat. I’m feeling good. I think today was a great test and I’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
Alex Eala Birmingham Open Rebeka Masarova Nikola Bartunkova WTA 125 Edgbaston Priory Club WTA semifinal rain delays Wimbledon-type comeback
Rain delays again? Tennis is basically weather roulette lol.
Glad she won but 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 is like she couldn’t just finish it normally. Also why were there suspensions? Seems excessive.
I read “reached Birmingham Open final” and thought it was some boxing thing. Like why is Manila time a thing for Alabama?? Anyway hope she gets the title, but she looked shaky at 5-2 so that’s on her.
Multiple rain delays and “suspensions”?? That word makes me think someone got kicked out or rules were broken but maybe it just means they stopped play. Either way, sounds exhausting for her and she still had to battle back late… good for her. I’m surprised it went past hours, like do they really keep the stands open at midnight Manila time?