Promising to ‘keep on working, keep on building’, Filipina tennis standout Alexandra ‘Alex’ Eala will kick off her grass season at the Birmingham Open with a challenge from Australia’s Priscilla Hon in the first round.
Both players hold a 1-1 record against each other, as Eala won their 2023 match, 6-2, 6-4, in Roehampton 2 in London while the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) No. 143 took the victory in two sets, 6-4, 6-3 in the Ningbo Open in China the following year.
The country’s pride is now the top seed in the updated draw and ranked higher in the WTA world rankings as her Australian rival only reached a career-high of No. 94 in 2025 and currently holds a 2026 record of 5 wins and 12 losses.
Second to Eala in the tournament is fellow Asian Janice Tjen of Indonesia, who is still awaiting her opponent. Germany’s Tatjana Maria, ranked at No. 54, is the third seed who will face WTA No. 149 Linda Fruhvirtova of Czechia. The fourth-seed, Australian Talia Gibson, will face American WTA No. 135 Elvina Kalieva.
In doubles opening matches, Eala, who just celebrated her 21st birthday last May 23, will partner with WTA No. 69 Nikola Bartunkova of Czechia against second-seed British duo of Harriet Dart and Maia Lumsden.
Dart is ranked No. 171 in singles and 109 in doubles while Lumsden is ranked No. 64 for doubles yet unranked for singles.
In the meantime, Eala secured a spot on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list under the sports and entertainment category for getting Filipinos fired up about tennis after she broke into the WTA Top 50 last year
With the Philippines’ tennis ace Alex Eala, Pinoy pop star Zack Tabudlo with several other Filipinos also made it to the list composed of 300 outstanding young entrepreneurs, leaders and innovators across the Asia-Pacific region.
The list is selected from a pool of close to 4,000 nominations, the class of 2026, all under the age of 30, who are regarded as the “brightest young sparks across the region” while pushing boundaries in their respective fields.
They were selected across 10 categories spanning AI (artificial intelligence); Consumer & Enterprise Technology; Entertainment & Sports; Finance & Venture
Capital; Healthcare & Science; Industry, Manufacturing & Energy; Retail & Ecommerce; Social Impact; Social Media, Marketing & Advertising and The Arts (Art & Style, Food & Drink).
Three Filipinos landed under the Social Impact category: Saje Miguel Molato, Steph Naval and Emmanuel Mirus Ponon. Molato founded consulting firm Siklab that works with government, nonprofit and private sector partners on education, skills development and climate programs.
On their hand, Naval is the founder of Empath, a social enterprise that provides online counseling, psychotherapy and psychiatric consultations to schools, workplaces and non-profit organizations.
Ponon is the founder of the organization known as the ASEAN Youth Advocates Network which encourages young people across Southeast Asian countries to participate in policy making, peace-building and sustainable development.
Included in the list under the Retail & Ecommerce category are Pauline Dizon and Adrian Jumangit, cofounders of fandom-based business Fan Connection SEA; Kiyanusch Braun and Martin Joaquin Palaña, cofounders of digital platform GoRocky and Kharl Christian Yeung, cofounder of pet food company Amico Innovations.
Brandon Angelo Wong and Raphael Sevilla, cofounders of BayaniChain Tech, a company that builds blockchain systems for governments and companies, likewise made the list under the Consumer & Enterprise Technology category.