Alex Eala reaches Eastbourne finals

By Julian-Ray Fortaleza

Alex Eala took another step through history early this morning, earning her way to her first finals appearance in a WTA tournament. The Eastbourne Open, sponsored by Lexus this year, is generally considered a warm-up for Wimbledon which starts on June 30th. 

Eala, currently ranked 74th in the world, made history on Friday by becoming the first Filipina to ever reach a WTA final. Over the course of the tournament, she notched impressive wins over Jelena Ostapenko, Dayana Yastremska, and Varvara Gracheva.

She fought back tears in her post-match interview, visibly emotional from the magnitude of her accomplishment.
“I’m super happy,” she said. “There were really tough moments where she was playing well and I sometimes didn’t know how to get out of it – I’m really happy with the win.”