AND the South American streak continues for the red-hot sensation Alexandra “Alex” Eala.
Ms. Eala claimed her seventh straight win with a sweep of Argentina’s Julia Riera, 6-1, 6-4, to barge into the quarterfinals of the 2025 WTA250 Sao Paulo Open on Thursday at the Villa-Lobos State Park in Brazil.
The Filipina pride, ranked No. 61 in the world, hardly broke a sweat for the second straight match as she needed only 77 minutes to clobber WTA No. 188 Riera and bolster her back-to-back title bid on the heels of her historic Guadalajara Open conquest marked by five consecutive wins in Mexico last week.
Ms. Eala, the No. 3 seed, previously scored a 6-0, 6-2 first-round drubbing of WTA No. 380 Yasmine Mansouri of France in only 70 minutes for a methodical campaign so far in front of a surprisingly pro-Filipino Brazilian crowd.
“I said the other day that Brazilians are super hospitable. That’s one thing I think you have in common with the Philippines, so I’m feeling at home. I loved the atmosphere tonight,” said the 20-year-old rising star Ms. Eala, slowly becoming a fan-favorite in the tennis world.
Ms. Eala’s home court advantage in Sao Paulo should serve handy against fellow trailblazer Janice Tjen, WTA No. 130, of Indonesia at a still-to-be-announced game time on Friday after the ongoing doubles’ prelims for a seat in the Final Four.
Ms. Tjen, 23, stunned No. 7 seed and WTA No. 464 Martina Okalova of Slovakia, 6-1, 6-0, to become the first Indonesian woman to reach a WTA quarterfinal since Angelique Widjaja in 2004. She did the same feat in the US Open to follow the footsteps of Ms. Widjaja as well in 2003.
Winner advances to the semis against either No. 2 seed Solana Sierra Argentina or No. 6 seed Francesca Jones of Great Britain.
Like her roaring start against Ms. Mansouri, Ms. Eala narrated almost the same story opposite a familiar foe in Ms. Riera by sprinting to a 4-0 start in the first set behind her crisp return game and vastly-improved service.
Ms. Riera, 23, went on to win just a game in the first frame and not even her stronger resistance with a 2-1 lead in the second set proved enough at the jaws of Ms. Eala’s searing 5-2 closeout punctuated by a backhand winner.
Ms. Eala is now 2-1 in head-to-head matches against Ms. Riera, who scored a 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 win in the French Open qualifying finals that denied the Filipina a historic main draw seat as early as 2024.
The Filipina ace then returned the favor in the 2024 WTA100 Cary Tennis Classic in North Carolina, United States, 6-3, 6-1.
Ms. Eala still proceeded to make her main draw debut in this year’s French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, where she became the first Filipina winner in any Grand Slam main draw ever after stunning world No. 15 Clara Tauson of Denmark in the US Open first round, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11).
That stellar run catapulted her to an all-time high momentum in the WTA125 Guadalajara Open to become the first Filipina WTA champion in history with wins over No. 187 Arianne Hartono of the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-2, No. 122 Varvara Lepchenko of the United States, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, No. 380 Nicole Fossa Huergo of Italy, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, No. 418 Kayla Day of the USA anew, 6-2, 6-3, then No. 134 Panna Udvardy of Hungary, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. — John Bryan Ulanday
