By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala finally ended her skid and brought home her first professional championship title of the year after ruling the W25 Yecla tournament last June 4, 2023, held in Spain.
The 18-year-old tennis superstar overcame all obstacles and took down Swiss ace Valentina Ryser- 6.3, 7.5- and capped off her incredible run at Spain after only losing three total sets since the first round of the tourney.
Eala showed a different version of himself coming into the W25 competition and lessened her unforced errors matched with a more consistent service game.
Her adjustments then paid off big time after punching a ticket to the grand finals and was tasked to end the stellar campaign of Ryser who is also coming off a tremendous run before clinching a seat in the championship match.
Eala quickly put her imprints on the match after unleashing her powerful baseline game in the first set, limiting the Swiss to few options after seeing herself defenseless whenever the Filipina threw that left forehand bomb down the line.
Aside from her consistent groundstrokes, Eala also had a decent serving game which allowed her to earn more points with her first service possessions.
The Filipina replicated her strong start in the second set and was looking to build another comfortable lead but Ryser was able to regain her striking rhythm and broke Eala’s service to give herself a chance of extending the championship game to a deciding third set.
However, Eala wouldn’t be denied in the next two games as she countered with her own offensive avalanche to win the second set, 7-5.
Before entering the finals, Eala had to go through Katy Dunne, Nahia Berecoechea, Victoria Rodrguez, and Lucia Peyre.
In all of her elimination games including the quarterfinal and the semis, Eala only gave up a set to Peyre, Dunne, and Berecoechea.
