Filipino tennis star Alex Eala claimed her first Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) title on Sunday morning (Manila time), rallying past Hungary’s Panna Udvardy, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the final of the Guadalajara 125 Open at the Panamerican Tennis Center in Zapopan, Mexico.
The 20-year-old Eala, ranked world No. 75, fought back after dropping the opening set to secure the biggest victory of her professional career.
On her way to the championship, Eala toppled several opponents: American Kayla Day in the semifinals, Italian Nicole Fossa Huergo in the quarterfinals, American Varvara Lepchenko in the second round, and Dutch player Arianne Hartono in the opening match.
Udvardy, the world No. 134, reached the final after victories over Mexico’s Jessica Hinojosa Gomez, Czech Nikola Bartnkova, Britain’s Francesca Jones, and Russia’s Maria Kozyreva.
Eala’s breakthrough comes after a series of strong performances on the WTA Tour this year. She reached the semifinals of the Miami Open in March, defeating Grand Slam champions Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and Iga Swiatek before falling to American Jessica Pegula. In June, she advanced to her first WTA final at the Eastbourne Open but lost a three-set thriller to Australian Maya Joint.
At last month’s US Open, Eala became the first Filipino to win a main draw match at a Grand Slam event, edging world No. 14 Carla Tauson of Denmark in the first round before bowing out to Spain’s Cristina Bucsa in the next stage.
A graduate of the Rafael Nadal Academy, Eala earlier made history in 2022 when she captured the US Open junior girls’ singles crown.
