IN A historic finish, Alex Eala is the first Filipino to win the tennis Grand Slam singles title after outclassing the 2022 French Open Girls’ Singles champion Lucie Havlickova in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, in the US Open Girls’ Singles Championship. 

The match was held at USTA Billie Jean King Center in Flushing Meadows, New York City early Sunday morning.

The 17-year-old Eala has been the most consistent player in the tournament, winning all the matches without dropping a set.  Her historic 6-0 record places the Quezon City native at No. 297 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), cementing her reputation as the the highest ranked Filipino in WTA history.

In the first set, the Filipino stalwart started with aggressive service aces—impressively notching points from 75% of her serves. Despite scoring only four winners as compared to Havlickova’s seven, Eala was more consistent with her forehand. World No. 3 Havlickova showed off her superb ball strength but was plagued with 21 unforced errors, ultimately handing the first set to Eala through a backhand error.

In a much closer second set, Havlickova managed to take control of Eala’s serves, securing four games through her strategic forehand winners. Although her Czech opponent was gaining momentum, Eala bounced back immediately and  won 100% of her break points in the following games. Building on her streak from the eighth game, Eala finally pulled away in the next two games and  sealed the set and championship.

“Buong puso ko to [championship] pinaglaban, hindi lang para sa sarili ko kundi para makatulong rin ako sa kinabukasan ng Philippine tennis. So hindi lang ‘to panalo ko, panalo nating lahat (I gave my whole heart in this fight, not only for me but also to help build the future of Philippine tennis. So it’s not just my win, but our win),”  Eala shared during the awarding ceremony.