Alex Eala sweeps Belarusian foe to advance in Jingshan Open

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Alex Eala is off to a waxing hot start in the Jingshan Tennis Open after blanking Belarus’ Aliona Falei, 6-3, 7-5, to march to the Round of 16 stage on Sept. 23, 2025, in Jingshan, China.

After scoring a momentum-boosting service break midway through the first set, Eala just steamrolled her way to take the opener in convincing fashion.

Eala capitalized on Falei’s early double-fault errors, punishing her with her signature first-ball return aces that helped her pile up the return points in just the first 25 minutes of action.

Just when Eala thought she could sustain her momentum, the Belarusian star woke up in the following set and managed to go toe-to-toe with the Filipina phenom.

From an error-plagued opening-set outing, Falei banked on her forehand weapon that proved to be enough to slow down Eala momentarily.

However, Eala regained footing after breaking the 5-all deadlock, responding well during the baseline battles while holding the most important service possession in the 11th game of the set.

Falei threatened to force a tiebreaker after scoring on a well-placed slice drop shot and a looping backhand lob, but Eala’s back-to-back down-the-line winners propelled her to a debut win in Jingshan.

Eala capped off her victory with 80 total points won, including six break points, a 54% winning percentage on the first service, and 41 markers on return.

Before setting foot in China, Eala was fresh off a quarterfinal appearance in the Sao Paulo Open and a historic campaign in the Guadalajara Open in Mexico.

On Sept. 7, 2025, Eala made history as the first Filipina to claim a WTA 125 championship title in Mexico, pulling off a come-from-behind victory over Hungary’s Panna Udvardy, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.