MANILA — Filipina tennis player Alex Eala continued her Birmingham Open campaign with a 6-2, 7-5 win, overcoming a second-set deficit to reach the quarterfinal stage.
Despite trailing 2-5 in the second set, Eala held her nerve and shifted momentum late in the match.
“I’m most proud that I stayed calm, kept my intensity, and gave myself another chance,” she said after the win.
Eala turned the match around by winning crucial late games, finishing the contest without needing a deciding set.
She also discussed her adaptation to grass courts, saying the surface and England’s weather require constant adjustments, but added that such conditions strengthen her game over time.
Her next opponent is Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew, a qualifier riding a strong streak of four straight wins without dropping a set.
The pair share a competitive history: Sawangkaew edged their 2024 WTA meeting in three sets, but Eala responded emphatically in their latest clash at the 2025 SEA Games final, winning in straight sets to secure gold for the Philippines.
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