Alex Eala has made history for the second time in the space of two weeks as she has become the first Filipino woman to win a WTA title with her magical run at the Guadalajara 125 Open.
WTA 125 series – also known as WTA Challenger events – is the second-highest level of women’s competition as it just below the top-tier WTA Tour and Eala has won her first-ever trophy after beating Panna Udvardy in the final in Mexico.
Her title run in Guadalajara came on the back of her historic performance at the US Open as she made her main draw debut at the season-ending Grand Slam before becoming the first Filipino player to win a main draw singles match at a major.
Eala faced 14th seed Clara Tauson in the first round, but upset the Dane 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11) for her first Grand Slam win in three attempts, but then lost in the second round against Cristina Bucsa.
But losing early at Flushing Meadows paved the way for the 20-year-old to accept a late wildcard for the WTA 125 tournament in Mexico, and it proved to be a brilliant decision as she went all the way.
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Eala was seeded second at the hard-court tournament and beat Arianna Hartono, Varvara Lepchenko, Nicole Fossa Huergo and Kayla Day to reach her maiden final at WTA 125 level.
The Filipino took on the unseeded Udvardy in the showpiece match and overcame a sluggish start before winning 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Rankings & Prize Money Boosts
Players earn 125 points for winning WTA 125 titles so early walked away with the full total while she also picked up 50 points for reaching the second round of the US Open.
However, they also drop points from the corresponding period 12 months ago so although she earned 175 points for the two events, she only added 150 to her WTA Rankings tally.
But that is still good enough for a big jump in the rankings as she is projected to rise 14 places to No 61 – just a few spots below her career-best of 56.
Eala also earned $15,500 for her title run and that will take her earnings for the year to $876,077 while her career total will increase to $1,331,985 as she also earned $154,000 for reaching the second round at the US Open.
Her biggest payday to date was at this year’s Miami Open in March as she earned a cheque of $332,160 after reaching the semi-final.
The youngster will next be in action on the WTA Tour as she has entered the Sao Paolo WTA 250 tournament and will be seeded third.