Tennis star Alex Eala becomes first Filipino to win Grand Slam singles championship
The Philippines’ Alexandra “Alex” Eala became the first Filipino to win a Grand Slam singles championship at the US Open Juniors in New York City.
The 17-year-old athlete, who had previously won two junior doubles Grand Slam titles, was the No. 10 seed going into the tournament, which was held Sept. 4–10 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The Rafa Nadal Academy scholar swept all her matches in the tournament before defeating Czech No. 2 seed Lucie Havlickova 6-2, 6-4, in the final match on Saturday.
Before reaching the final, Eala defeated Canadian Annabelle Xu 6-3, 6-0 in the first round; Slovakian Nina Vargova 6-2, 6-3 in the second round; and Australian No. 8 seed Taylah Preston 6-2, 7-6(1) in the third round.
Her momentum continued in her succeeding matches, defeating Russian No. 14 seed Mirra Andreeva 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals and Canadian No. 9 seed Victoria Mboko 6-1, 7-6(5) in the semifinals.
