Twenty-year-old ‘Alex’ Eala advances to the finals in Eastbourne Open. (Photo from Tatler Asia)
EASTBOURNE, United Kingdom — Tennis sensation Alexandra ‘Alex’ Eala is now the first Filipina tennis player in history to reach a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) final but there is no time for celebration as she faces an unpredictable opponent in the person of 19-year-old Maya Joint of Australia.
After battling past the Russian-born French netter Varvara Gracheva, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, in a grueling semifinal clash in this year’s Lexus Eastbourne Open at Devonshire Park, for Eala the going has gone tougher as her upcoming foe is listed as Number 51 in the WTA’s world rankings.
This comes after Joint’s win in the semis against Russian and world No. 53 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-5, 6-3.
For Eala, 20, the final marks a breakthrough moment in her young career following an inspired run on the British grass courts.
But standing across the net will be one of the WTA’s fast-rising names who has already claimed her maiden tour-level title earlier this year on clay in the Morocco Open in Rabat, defeating Jaqueline Cristian 6–3, 6–2 in the final.
Joint is having a strong 2025 season with a 33–16 win-loss record to date, but on grass, she’s played only one tournament on the surface prior to Eastbourne—the Nottingham Open, where she lost in the first round to Belarusian veteran Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 6–3, 4–6, 1–6.
Despite the early loss, however, Joint has found her rhythm quickly at Eastbourne, using her powerful baseline game and athletic movement to reach her second WTA final of the year.
Eala and Joint have never faced each other on the WTA Tour, making the matchup their first face-off.
Eala has now climbed to world No. 56 after her victory over Gracheva. Prior the semis, she won four consecutive matches against high-ranking rivals, including the two she won in the qualifying rounds against Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey and Hailey Baptiste of the United States.
She then proceeded to take down Italian Lucia Bronzetti in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1, in the opening round of the main draw before ousting former Grand Slam champion Jelea Ostapenko of Latvia via walkover in the second round, 0-6, 6-2, 3-2. She eventually reached the semis via a dominant 6-1, 6-2 victory over world’s no. 42 Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine in the quarterfinals.
It is her longest winning run since the Miami Open where she slew three former Grand Slam champions in Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek.
After her victory over Gracheva, Eala enthused in a WTA interview she felt “overwhelmed with emotions.”
“No, I’m like super, super happy because like it was a tough match. There were really tough moments where she was playing well and like sometimes couldn’t, you know, didn’t know like how to get out of it. So, yeah, I’m really happy with, you know, winning,” she said.
Eala and Gracheva had met just two weeks ago in the first round of Nottingham qualifiers, where Eala also prevailed in three sets.
“Yeah, it was a challenge for both of us physically and mentally. You know, we both came from qualis and, you know, she’s a really solid player. And had some moments where she was really dominating. So, you know, the fact that I was able to stay there and wait for my opportunity is a big achievement for me today,” the Filipina described the match.
“Happiness, hunger, tiredness… there’s so many things going on in my head, just primarily trying to enjoy the win,” she added.
Asked about her mindset heading into the title match, Eala shared: “I think just focusing on myself. Whoever wins the semis today is going to be a great player. Both of them have a lot of experience and a lot of skill, obviously.”