Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala is now headed for Manila at much earlier time for the inaugural staging of the 2025 Philippine Women’s Open WTA-125 Tennis Championships.
The 20-year-old Eala and Brazilian partner Ingrid Martins fell to an experienced pair Magda Linette and Shuko Aoyama, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 3-6, in the first round of the 2026 Australian Open women’s doubles in Melbourne Park.
Eala is a wildcard entry in the first-ever WTA event in the Philippines, slated from January 26 to 31 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Another big crowd of Filipino supporters cheered Eala and Martins on, but the duo dropped out of contention following a two-hour and 38-minute clash.
The world no. 49 Eala, whose live rankings went up to no. 43, and will be one of the wildcards in the Philippine netfest, left the court sharing 44000 Australian dollars, or P1,759,737.32 with Martins, to go with 10 points.
Linette and Aoyama advanced to the second round for a battle with the winner between Asia Muhammad and Erin Routliffe against the duo of Linda Noskova and Rebecca Sramkova.
Eala and Martins managed to score 42 points from 80 first serves, and after fighting their way to a 4-2 lead in the second set.
The world no. 134 doubles-ranked and Eala and Martins got off to a strong start in the first set, jumping to an early 4-0 lead.
But a big fightback from Linette and Aoyama allowed them to win the set in a tiebreak, 7-6 (7-3). In the deciding third frame, the tandem got into the groove to grab the set 6-3.
The two broke Eala and Martins’ serve in the final game, after Aoyama landed a short volley to the middle for the match point.
