Alex Eala secures historic first WTA title in Guadalajara 125 Open
Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala bags her first-ever WTA singles crown at the 2025 Guadalajara 125 Open held in Grandstand Caliente in Mexico on Sept. 7 (PH Time).
The 20-year-old showcased her resilience in a hard-fought final, overcoming a shaky start to defeat Hungary's Panna Udvardy with a score of 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
This makes the World No. 75 officially the first Filipino professional player to win a WTA singles title.
Eala entered the Guadalajara 125 as the second seed, and later became the highest-seeded player following the early exit of defending champion Kamila Rakhimova.
Prior to this, she also defeated Arianne Hartono in the opening round, America's Varvara Lepchenko in the round of 16, Italy's Nicole Fossa Huergo in the quarter-finals, and America's Kayla Day in the semifinals.
Eala's recent win came after her historic win in August as the first player from the Philippines to win a Grand Slam singles match with a first-round upset of Danish 14th seed Clara Tauson. She exited in the second round after falling to Spain's Catrina Bucşa.
She also had her runner-up finish at the Eastbourne Open in June.
The Quezon City-based tennis star also rose to fame after finishing in the semifinals of the Miami Open, historically defeating three Grand Slam winners in Jenna Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and Iga Swiatek.
Eala also made her first Wimbledon appearance in July.
