Alex Eala misses WTA 250 title, still makes history for Philippine tennis

(NLDO) - Southeast Asia's No. 1 female tennis player, Alexandra Eala, ended her journey at the WTA 250 Eastbourne Open 2025 with a regretful runner-up finish against her Australian opponent.

Southeast Asia's No. 1 female tennis player Alexandra Eala ended her impressive journey at the WTA 250 Eastbourne Open 2025 (UK) with the runner-up position after a regretful 1-2 (4-6, 6-1, 6-7) defeat to young Australian talent Maya Joint.

The confrontation between Eala (20 years old) and Joint (19 years old) was the youngest final match at Eastbourne since 1981. The match was dramatic when both players continuously broke their serve games and had to decide the winner in a thrilling tie-break in the third set.

Eala had many advantages but could not take advantage to finish, allowing Joint to come back to win 12-10 and win the championship.

Although he missed the chance to become the first Southeast Asian player to win a WTA Tour tournament in 15 years, Eala still made a strong impression with his excellent performance.

Eala speaks after finishing second at the WTA 250 Eastbourne Open 2025

"First of all, I want to congratulate Maya for a great match and a great tournament. We did very well so if I lose in this tournament, it will be against Maya.

To all the supporters, thank you for making my first WTA final special. It's historic for my country because no Filipino has ever done that," Eala said, shedding tears on the podium after the match.

The Eastbourne Open is now not only a historic milestone for Eala but also opens up new expectations for Philippine and Southeast Asian tennis on the world map.

After this match, the Filipino tennis player will enter Wimbledon 2025, where her first opponent, the reigning doubles champion of the tournament - Barbora Krejcikova - will put a lot of attention on her.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/alex-eala-vuot-chuc-vo-dich-wta-250-van-tao-nen-lich-su-cho-quan-vot-philippines-196250629063358341.htm