Alexandra Eala
Alexandra Maniego Eala is a Filipino professional tennis player. She reached a career-high WTA singles ranking of world No. 49 on January 12, 2026, making her the highest-ranked Filipino in tour history. She is also the first Filipino to break into the top 50, defeat multiple top-5 players and major champions, and reach a tour-level final in the Open Era.
Eala reached an ITF junior combined ranking of world No. 2 on October 6, 2020, and became the first Filipino to win a major jr. title by claiming the girls' singles category at the 2022 US Open.
Early life and background
Alexandra Eala was born on May 23, 2005, in Quezon City, Philippines, to Mike Eala, a businessman, and Rizza Maniego-Eala, a former national swimmer and chief financial officer of Globe Telecom until 2024. Her mother earned a bronze medal in the 1985 SEA Games in the 100-meter backstroke. Eala is a niece of former Philippine Sports Commission chairperson and Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Noli Eala. Her brother, Michael "Miko" Eala, played tennis for the Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lions from 2020 to 2024. She first played tennis at age four; her maternal grandfather, Roberto "Bobby" Maniego, introduced her to the sport and coached her as a child.Eala attended the Immaculate Conception Academy in San Juan and Colegio San Agustin in Makati, before transferring to the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor, Spain. She graduated from the academy in 2023.
Juniors
At age 12, Eala won the 2018 Les Petit As tournament. In October, Eala won singles and doubles titles at the ITF Trofeo David Ferrer under-18 tournament in Alicante, Spain, claiming her first under-18 title. In 2019, Eala won the Orange Bowl girls’ doubles title with Evialina Laskevich. The same year, she made her junior Grand Slam tournament debut at the US Open, where she lost in the second round. Eala reached the third round at the 2020 Australian Open for singles and won the girls' doubles event partnered with Priska Madelyn Nugroho. At the 2020 French Open, Eala reached the semifinals.At the 2021 French Open girls' doubles tournament, Eala won her second junior Grand Slam doubles title with partner Oksana Selekhmeteva. In July, Eala won the singles and doubles events at the 61st Trofeo Bonfiglio tournament held in Milan. At Wimbledon, she reached the second round of the tournament. Eala then progressed to the quarterfinals of the 2021 US Open before winning her first junior Grand Slam title in the same competition the following year.
Professional career
2020–2024: Five ITF Circuit championships
In March 2020, Eala made her ITF debut at the W15 Monastir series of tournaments in Tunisia, winning her first professional match. In January 2021, Eala, as the youngest and lowest-seeded junior reserve, won the W15 Manacor final in Spain and subsequently entered the WTA top 1000 rankings. She received a wildcard to the 2021 Miami Open qualifiers in March but lost in the tournament's first round. At the W25 Platja d'Aro event, she reached her first ITF doubles final.Eala made her WTA Tour debut as a wildcard at the 2021 Romanian Open, becoming the first Filipino to win a tour-level match, before losing in the second round. She received another wildcard into the main draw of the 2022 Miami Open, where she was eliminated at the first round. In 2023, she participated in her first professional Grand Slam, losing in the qualifying round of the Australian Open. She received wildcards to the Miami Open and Madrid Open and qualified for the Thailand Open, exiting in the first round of all three tournaments. Despite earlier setbacks, she broke into the WTA top 200 on August 28 and climbed to a career-high No. 191 on September 18, following a second-round finish at the ITF W100 Tokyo and a first-round appearance at the WTA 250 Japan Open in Osaka.
In 2024, Eala reached the semifinals of the WTA 125 Canberra Tennis International doubles event. That year, Eala was eliminated in the qualifiers of the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. Eala reached the quarterfinals of the WTA 125 Veneto Open, where she was defeated by Sara Errani—her best result for 2024.
During the 2024 Hologic WTA Tour, Eala registered early-round exits across all tournament tiers. Her appearances included WTA 1000 events in Miami and Madrid; WTA 500 tournaments in Abu Dhabi, Guadalajara, and Wuhan; and WTA 250 stops in Nottingham, Ningbo, Guangzhou, and Jiangxi. On the WTA 125 circuit, she also competed at the Canberra Tennis International, Oeiras Ladies Open, Makarska Open, Polish Open, and Guadalajara 125 Open.
Eala has won five ITF titles: the W15 Manacor in Spain in 2021, the W25 in Chiang Rai, Thailand, in 2022, the W25 in Yecla, Spain, and the W25 in Roehampton, United Kingdom, in 2023, and the W100 Open Araba en Femenino in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, in 2024. In 2024, Eala won three ITF doubles titles: with Darja Semeņistaja, the W50 in Pune, India, and with Estelle Cascino, the W75 Open de Seine-et-Marne in Croissy-Beaubourg, France, and the W100 Open Araba en Femenino in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
2025: Miami semis, WTA 125 title, top 50
Eala began 2025 by reaching the semifinals of the WTA 125 Canberra International. Ranked No. 140, Eala was awarded a wildcard for the Miami Open, where she defeated Jeļena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and Iga Świątek before losing to Jessica Pegula in the semifinals. Following these results, Eala became the first Filipino to reach a WTA 1000 event semifinal, the first Filipino woman to defeat a major champion at a tour-level event in the Open Era, and the first wildcard in history to defeat three major champions in straight sets at a single WTA event. On March 31, 2025, she entered the WTA's top 100 as the first Filipino to achieve the feat, ranking at No. 75.Eala reached the Italian Open doubles quarterfinals partnering with Coco Gauff, losing to Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani. She made her French Open debut, losing to Emiliana Arango in the first round, but made it to round two of doubles with Renata Zarazúa. Eala then advanced to the quarterfinals of the Ilkley Open. At the Eastbourne Open, she lost to Maya Joint in her first WTA 250 tour final. After the event, Eala reached a new WTA career-high ranking of No. 56. Eala's debut at Wimbledon resulted in two first-round losses: in singles to Barbora Krejcikova, and in doubles with Eva Lys to Ingrid Martins and Quinn Gleason.
During her US Open debut, she defeated Clara Tauson in the first round, becoming the first Filipino player to achieve a match victory in a major tournament in the Open Era, but was subsequently defeated by Cristina Bucșa in the second round. Seeded second, she won her first WTA 125 title by defeating Panna Udvardy at the Guadalajara 125 Open final, becoming the first Filipino to achieve this milestone. Eala then lost to Janice Tjen during the quarterfinals of the SP Open. She competed at the Jingshan Open, where eventual champion Lulu Sun defeated her during the semifinals. At the Suzhou Open, she reached the quarterfinals, where she lost to champion Viktorija Golubic. She later teamed up with Nadiia Kichenok to reach the doubles semifinals at the WTA 250 Guangzhou Open, falling to eventual champions Katarzyna Piter and Janice Tjen.
In 2025, Eala recorded early-round exits in singles at the following tournaments: Mumbai Open, Oeiras Ladies Open, Madrid Open, Italian Open, Birmingham Open, and Nottingham Open. In the second half of the season, she also exited early at the Canadian Open, Wuhan Open, Japan Open, Guangzhou Open, and Hong Kong Tennis Open. In doubles, she suffered first-round losses at the Mumbai Open, Oeiras Ladies Open, Birmingham Open, and Hong Kong Tennis Open.
Eala finished the season ranked No. 50 in the world, the highest singles ranking ever achieved by a player from the Philippines.
2026
Eala opened her 2026 WTA season at the Auckland Open, advancing to the semifinals in both the singles and doubles events. In singles, she reached the last four before bowing to China’s Wang Xinyu. In doubles, she partnered with Iva Jovic and progressed to the semifinals where they fell to the Chinese duo of Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan. She then made her Australian Open debut, but was eliminated in the first round in singles and doubles alongside Ingrid Martins. Eala kicked off her 2026 WTA 125 campaign at the inaugural Philippine Women’s Open, entering as a wildcard and reaching the quarterfinals before falling to the eventual champion, Colombia’s Camila Osorio.Career statistics
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.Singles
Current through the 2026 Australian Open.WTA Tour finals
Singles: (1 runner-up)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loss | 0–1 | 2025 Eastbourne Open – Women's singles| | Eastbourne Open, United Kingdom | WTA 250 | Grass |  WTA Challenger finalsSingles: (1 title)ITF Circuit finalsSingles: 8 (5 titles, 3 runner-ups)
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dts|Apr 2022