Philippines’ rising tennis star Alexandra Eala wins first SEA Games gold with women’s singles title

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Alexandra Eala (centre) posing with her SEA Games womens singles medal with her mother Rizza Maniego-Eala (left) and father Mike on Dec 18, 2025.

PHOTO: PHILIPPINE OLYMPIC COMMITTEE/FACEBOOK

Summary

• Alexandra Eala won the SEA Games womens singles gold, defeating Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-1, 6-2, ending the Philippines 26-year wait for the title.
• Ealas victory caps off a breakthrough year, including reaching the Miami Open semi-finals and winning her first WTA title at the Guadalajara 125 Open.
• Eala expressed immense joy in winning for her country, highlighting the unique pressure and personal significance of the SEA Games.

AI generated

SINGAPORE – The tears flowed freely as Alexandra Eala embraced her parents at the National Tennis Development Center in Nonthaburi on Dec 18, following her women’s singles title win at the SEA Games with a 6-1, 6-2 win over home favourite Mananchaya Sawangkaew.

The victory earned Eala her first gold medal at the regional meet, producing a fairy-tale end to what has been a breakthrough year for the 20-year-old.

In the process, she also ended the Philippines’ 26-year wait for a title in the event, and became her country’s third women’s singles champion at the biennial competition, behind compatriots Pia Tamayo (1981) and Maricris Fernandez (1999).

Speaking to media after the final, she said: “To end the year on this high is such an amazing thing that I would not have imagined would’ve happened at the start of the year.”

It has been quite the year for