Alex Eala kicked off her Asian campaign with a victory over Belarus’ Aliona Falei at the Jingshan Open and will next take on Japan’s Mei Yamaguchi.
Top seed Alexandra “Alex” Eala opened her WTA125 Jingshan Open campaign with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Belarusian Aliona Falei on Tuesday at the Jingshan International Tennis Tournament Center in China.
The 20-year-old Filipina, ranked No. 58 in the world, overcame a spirited second-set push from the WTA No. 322, sealing the win in one hour and 51 minutes after breaking Falei’s serve in the decisive 12th game.
Eala now advances to face Japan’s Mei Yamaguchi (No. 268), who earlier dispatched Hong Kong’s Hong Yi Cody Wong, 6-4, 6-1, in the Round of 16.
As the highest-ranked player in the 32-player draw, Eala enters the tournament as the clear favorite. However, she was nearly forced into a third set after losing momentum midway through the second. Much like her fast 3-0 start in the opener, she raced to a 2-0 lead in the next set before Falei mounted a comeback, leading to a tight exchange until the end.
In crunch time, Falei faltered with 10 costly errors, while Eala remained composed, committing just two faults, winning 39 points on serve, and producing 41 return points by breaking most of her opponent’s service games.
The Jingshan Open marks the start of Eala’s Asian swing, which also includes the Suzhou Open (Sept. 29–Oct. 5) and the Hong Kong Open (Oct. 27–Nov. 2).
After making history as the first Filipina to win a Grand Slam main draw match at the US Open and becoming the first Filipino WTA champion at the W125 Guadalajara Open, Eala now aims to crack the world’s Top 50 for the first time.
With several tournaments close to home, there are growing hopes that the Rafael Nadal Academy-trained left-hander will represent the Philippines at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand this December, building on her three bronze medals from the 2022 Hanoi edition.
