Alex Eala returns home, eyes gold medal in SEA Games in Thailand
ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA has returned base to recharge first before preparing for a far nobler duty with the national team after etching another history for Philippine tennis in the world stage.
On the heels of her monumental entry to the Top 50 of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings following a year-long tour, Ms. Eala on Wednesday finally came home with the Taal Volcano being her first stop.
“I always find my way back home,” said Ms. Eala with a photo of Taal as backdrop in Batangas.
Ms. Eala, 20, is expected to be in the country for the entire month after revealing that playing in the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games is part of her plans during a long break at the close of the WTA Tour season last week.
She’s being eyed by the Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA) to banner the formidable national squad in the biennial multi-sport competition slated on Dec. 9 to 20 in Thailand.
“SEA Games is definitely in my plans,” Ms. Eala then said after a Round of 16 campaign in the Hong Kong Open that proved as the final tournament of her stellar 2025 season.
Her R16 finish added 12 more points to her total with now 1143 to barge into the Top 50 from No. 158 to start the year.
She’s the first Filipina to reach the world’s Top 100 and now Top 50, adding just another feather in her cap with a bevy of firsts for the Philippines whether in the junior or women’s division.
Among those was a breakthrough WTA title in the Guadalajara Open in Mexico, a historic first-round win in the US Open main draw and a Final Four finish in the Miami Open marked by gigantic wins against former Slam champions Iga Swiatek, Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys.
But Ms. Eala is not yet done, setting her sights on finally winning a gold medal in the SEA Games after netting three bronze mints in the 2022 Hanoi Games. She skipped the Cambodia meet the following year due to schedule conflict.
Now with a full availability and an all-time high morale from a historic WTA Tour campaign, Ms. Eala also beams with the possibility of strutting her stuff at home when the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and PHILTA finalize the hosting of a WTA Tour leg early next year.
It’s to be branded as the Philippine or Manila Open, a WTA 125 tourney being eyed at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex under renovation or the soon-to-rise Philippine Tennis Center in Clark.
“If it were to happen, I would be so happy and it would be such a milestone for Philippine tennis. Not just obviously for me but for everybody there because growing up, we never had these kinds of tournaments,” Ms. Eala said.
“As long as I can remember, we never had any 15k or a professional international tournament. So to come in with a (WTA) 125 would be such a big step and I’m proud of how far we’ve come. But it’s only the start.” — John Bryan Ulanday
