By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Alex Eala capped off her impressive run in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 125 Workday Canberra International Tournament with a semifinal qualification on January 3, 2025, in Australia.
Despite her loss to Sijia Wei of China, 7-5, 6-2, during their semifinal duel, Eala ended the tournament on a high note and started her 2025 season with a strong performance.
With her victories before exiting in the semifinals, Eala’s professional points in the singles division are expected to rise.
Eala had the opportunity to shift the match’s momentum when she led 5-4 in the first set, one point away from securing a 1-0 advantage.
However, Wei stunned Eala with a break-point counter and held her service to take control of the tightly contested opener.
Eala struggled to regain composure in the second set, which allowed Wei to secure two consecutive break points and build a commanding 5-0 lead.
Eala briefly revived her chances with a service hold but could not overcome Wei’s precise down-the-line plays, which ended the match and sent Wei to the finals.
Before the semifinals, Eala defeated Taylah Preston in the quarterfinals, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, at the Canberra International Tennis Centre.
She also excelled in the qualifiers, dominating Catherine Aulia and Alana Subasic to earn a spot in the main draw.
In the Round of 32, Eala swept Sinja Kraus 2-0 before delivering the same result against Arianne Hartono in the Round of 16.
