September 12, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The South American streak continues for red-hot Alex Eala.
Eala claimed her seventh straight win with a sweep of Argentina’s Julia Riera, 6-1, 6-4, to barge into the quarterfinals of the WTA250 Sao Paulo Open yesterday on the Villa-Lobos State Park in Brazil.
The Filipina satisfaction, ranked No. 61 on the planet, hardly broke a sweat for the second straight match as she wanted solely 77 minutes to clobber WTA No. 188 Riera and bolster her again back-to-back title bid on the heels of her historic Guadalajara Open conquest marked by 5 consecutive wins in Mexico final week.
Eala, the No. 3 seed in Sao Paulo, scored a 6-0, 6-2 first-round drubbing of WTA No. 380 Yasmine Mansouri of France in solely 70 minutes in entrance of a surprisingly pro-Filipino crowd.
“I mentioned the opposite day that Brazilians are tremendous hospitable. That’s one factor I believe you will have in frequent with the Philippines, so I’m feeling at dwelling. I liked the ambiance tonight,” mentioned the 20-year-old rising star Eala, slowly changing into a fan-favorite within the tennis world.
Eala’s perceived homecourt benefit in Sao Paulo ought to serve helpful in opposition to fellow trailblazer Janice Tjen, WTA No. 130, of Indonesia right now after the continued doubles’ prelims for a seat within the Last 4.
Tjen, 23, shocked WTA No. 464 Martina Okalova of Slovakia, 6-1, 6-0, to change into the primary Indonesian girl to achieve a WTA quarterfinal since Angelique Widjaja in 2004. She did the identical feat within the US Open to comply with the footsteps of Widjaja as properly in 2003.
The winner advances to the semis in opposition to both No. 2 seed Solana Sierra Argentina or No. 6 seed Francesca Jones of Nice Britain.
Like her roaring begin in opposition to Mansouri, Eala narrated virtually the identical story reverse a well-known foe in Riera by sprinting to a 4-0 begin within the first set behind her crisp return sport and vastly-improved service.
Riera, 23, went on to win only a sport within the first body and never even her stronger resistance with a 2-1 lead within the second set proved sufficient on the jaws of Eala’s searing 5-2 closeout punctuated by a backhand winner.
Eala is now 2-1 in head-to-head matches in opposition to Riera, who scored a 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 win within the French Open qualifying finals that denied the Filipina a historic fundamental draw seat as early as 2024.
The Filipina ace then returned the favor within the 2024 WTA100 Cary Tennis Traditional in North Carolina, United States, 6-3, 6-1.
Eala nonetheless proceeded to make her fundamental draw debut on this 12 months’s French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, the place she turned the primary Filipina winner in any Grand Slam fundamental draw ever after gorgeous world No. 15 Clara Tauson of Denmark within the US Open first spherical, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11).
