Tennis sensation Alex Eala captured her breakthrough WTA singles title and served as anchor as Philippine athletes made it a “September to remember.”

On a high from her milestone first-round victory at the US Open main draw in August, Eala followed up with her maiden championship run at the Guadalajara 125 Open in Mexico.

The 20-year-old ace fought with much intensity and passion all the way through, sealing it with a searing comeback from a set down to beat Hungary’s Panna Udvardy, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.

With her exploits, Eala smashed her way to the top of the Philippine Sportswriters Association’s roster of achievers for the ninth month of 2025.

Aside from the elite netter, pole vaulter EJ Obiena, the Alas Pilipinas Men, darter Lovely Mae “Bebang” Orbeta, and pickleball player Bambi Zoleta produced noteworthy performances in the other fronts.

Obiena helped stage a world-class street pole vault event, the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge at the Ayala Triangle, and gave Pinoy fans a complete treat by beating his foreign rivals for the gold with his season’s best 5.80 meters.

Alas spiked its stint in the FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship at home with a massive upset of No. 21 Egypt, 29-27, 23-25, 25-22, 25-21. It was the country’s first-ever win in the global meet and Alas nearly made more history but lost to No. 14 Iran, 25-21, 21-25, 25-17, 23-25, 20-22, in a close battle for a Last-16 berth.

Writing history for Philippine darts, Orbeta hit the bull’s eye at the World Darts Federation (WDF) World Cup in Gyeonggi-do, Korea, capping an exceptional run with a dominant 7-2 victory over seasoned American Paula Murphy in the finale.

 A decorated soft tennis player, Zoleta showed topnotch skills in another sport, copping a pair of gold medals at the World Pickleball Championship Tier 5 in Bali. Zoleta beat Indonesian Angie Bong, 21-15, for the tiara in the women’s singles 19+ 4.5 category and teamed with Patricia Raymundo in overpowering Marine Demol and Mila Yatmi, 21-6, for the doubles mint.

Also making it to the September honor roll were Joseph Arcilla, Samuel Nuguit, Patrick Mendoza, Bien Zoleta, Princess Catindig and Christy Sañosa, who topped the mixed team division of the 9th Asian Soft Tennis Championships in Mungyeong City, Korea, and the Philippine delegation that claimed the Overall Nation Championship Trophy at the FIA Asia Pacific Motorsport Championship in Sri Lanka.