As the curtains of the year 2025 fall, Philippine sports fans can reflect and look back on a year that was defined by the rise of new heroes and the continued dominance of established icons.

But one athlete truly stood out — Alex Eala.

The 20-year-old Filipino netter truly had a remarkable season as she soared from being a mere sideliner in the international tennis circuit into one of the rising stars who has the potential to sit at the table of the world’s greatest stars.

From Miami to Guadalajara, New York to Bangkok, Eala has proven that a Filipina can stand her ground against the best players in the world.

But she’s not alone. There are also other Filipinos who contributed to the country’s success at the international level, making the 2025 season a year that will forever be remembered by the amount of gold medals, broken records, breakthrough victories and maiden championships by Filipino athletes.

These Filipino athletes have indeed proven that the era of excellence that started when Hidilyn Diaz won a breakthrough gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 is still in its full glory.

Here are the 10 biggest moments in Philippine sports in 2025:

1. Alex Eala makes WTA breakthrough

Tennis prodigy Alex Eala reached a milestone many thought was years away.

In March, she swept the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) circuit off its feet when she made a magical run to the semifinals of the Miami Open. Along the way, she defeated some of the biggest names in professional tennis like Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek before falling in the semifinals to Jessica Pegula. This historic run propelled her into the WTA Top 100 for the first time.

But she wasn’t done.

Three months later, she advanced to the finals of the Eastbourne Open, where she lost to Maya Joint in a dramatic finale.

She finally scored her breakthrough WTA title at the Guadalajara Open when she stormed back to trounce Panna Udvardy in the final. With that, she etched her name in the history books of Philippine tennis as she emerged as the first Filipina to win a WTA crown.

She also had a breakthrough victory in the US Open when she beat Clara Tauson in the opening round before capping her year with a gold medal in the women’s singles event of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, the first title by a Filipina in the biennial meet since Marcris Fernandez emerged victorious in Brunei in 1999.

With that, Eala reached her best-ever No. 50 in the world ranking in November before closing the season at No. 53, cementing her status as one of the best Filipino tennis players in history.

2. Filipinas lift maiden SEA Games trophy

Aside from Eala, there’s another storyline that was greatly celebrated by sports-loving Filipinos in 2025.