Qualifier Eala makes first WTA final with victory over Gracheva at Eastbourne

Filipino qualifier Alexandra Eala defeated fellow qualifier Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 to reach her maiden WTA final at the Eastbourne Open.

It has been a remarkable breakthrough year for the 20-year-old, who put together an extraordinary run in Miami en route to the last eight, taking out several Grand Slam champions along the way.

After a low-key clay-court stretch, Eala has now backed up that breakout run with a hugely impressive charge to the final of the Eastbourne International, proving that she can compete on both hard and grass courts.

The Filipino surged into a 4-1 lead only to be pegged back by her tenacious opponent. But Eala dug deep to break again in the twelfth and final game of the set to steal into a one-set lead.

Gracheva erased an early break to comfortably take the second, before a topsy-turvy decider followed.

It was Eala who clinched it, despite being pegged back several times, and moved into her maiden WTA final.

She was visibly emotional after the result, as the effects of a hard-fought battle and this significant milestone sunk in.

Eala, ranked No 74, will play the winner of the match between Australian Maya Joint and Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova next.

The 20-year-old Filipino won against Italian Lucia Bronzetti (6-0, 6-1), Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, the No 3 seed (0-6, 6-2, 3-2 ret.) and Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska (6-1, 6-2) in the previous rounds of the Eastbourne tournament.

Earlier in the tournament, Gracheva, ranked No 111, beat Colombian Camila Osorio (6-4, 4-6, 7-5), Slovak Rebecca Sramkova, the No 8 seed (7-5, 6-3) and second seed Barbora Krejcikova (W/O).

Eastbourne WTA 250, other semi-final result (Devonshire Park Lawn Club, grass, USD 389.000):

• Maya Joint vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova