Alex Eala Reaches Historic Eastbourne Final

Alex Eala became the first Filipino to reach a WTA Tour-level final after defeating Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 in the Eastbourne Open semifinals. Eala's path to the final included victories over Zeynep Sonmez, Hailey Baptiste, Lucia Bronzetti, and Dayana Yastremska. Notably, she had also beaten Gracheva recently at the Nottingham Open qualifiers. In the Eastbourne final, Eala will face Australia's Maya Joint, who advanced by defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Both players are competing for their first WTA singles title. Eala's achievement is being celebrated as a historic milestone for Philippine tennis.