True to her word, Eala isn’t done making history for the country.
After a historic performance in the US Open, Alex Eala delivered her promise anew as she emerged as the first ever Filipino to win a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) title early Sunday (Manila time) in Mexico.
Eala crawled her way back from a sluggish first-set performance to pull off an impressive 1-6 7-5, 6-3 victory over Panna Urdvardy in the final of the 2025 Guadalajara 125 Open at the Panamerican Tennis Center.
With a small Filipino crowd waving the national colors in the stand, the 20-year-old Eala rallied from a one-set deficit to shock the world No. 134 Hungarian and secure a landmark victory that will now be serving as a gold standard in the local tennis circuit.
The Filipina even struggled in the first few games of the second set, 1-4, before stepping on the gas and finally tying the count at 5-5 to signal her resurgence that sparked a performance that was never before done in local professional tennis circuit.
At center court, Eala took time to thank everybody who made her historic success possible. Then, she expressed gratitude to a small group of Filipino supporters that never gets tired to cheer for her since she launched a professional career.
Her victory, which was part of her promise to “make more history” when she she became the first Filipino to win a Grand Slam match in the US Open two weeks ago, reverberated all over the country that even President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. took time off his busy schedule to congratulate her.
“History has been written by Alex Eala as she becomes the first Filipino to win a singles title!” the Chief Executive wrote in a Facebook post, adding that he will make sure that more Filipino athletes will follow her path of bringing glory to the country.
“We will do everything to ensure that more Filipino athletes follow this path and showcase to the world the talent and heart of the Filipino.”
The celebration also spilled over in her training camp in Mallorca, Spain.
The Rafael Nadal Academy, where Eala had been training since her teenage years, also lauded her for showing a big fighting heart, proving that a Filipino like her can shine against the best tennis players in the world.
“What a night in Guadalajara! After dropping the first set, Alex roared back with all her heart (emoji) to defeat Udvardy and claim her first WTA singles title,” the world-famous academy said.
“She’s now the first Filipino — man or woman — to win a WTA singles title. Goosebumps. Pure pride.”
And with victory comes the reward. Eala will be bringing home a pot money of $15,500 — or roughly P878,000 — for winning the tournament that is considered as the lowest among WTA events behind WTA 1000, WTA 500, and WTA 250.
On the contrary, Eala enjoyed her biggest payday of $154,000 — or around P8.7 million — when she beat world No. 14 Clara Tauson of Denmark in the opening round of the US Open, which is considered as the biggest and richest among the four Grand Slam events.
But more than that, Eala is tipped to rise to No 62 in the world ranking, putting her merely six notches behind her highest placing of No. 56 that she had in June.
Eala’s next mission will be the Sao Paulo Open in Brazil starting Monday, where she was seeded third behind world No. 22 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil and world No. 74 Solana Sierra of Argentina. She will open her campaign against a qualifier in the Round of 32.