20-year-old Alexandra Eala from the Philippines is having a career breakthrough, finishing off with a golden medal at the 2025 SEA Games held in Bangkok.
On Thursday, December 18, 2025, Eala defeated world No. 240 Mananchaya Sawangkaew in the final match of the women’s singles tennis event by a score of 6-1, 6-2. The world No. 53 claimed her sixth medal of the tournament and third in the 2025 edition. Besides her singles win, she also won bronze medals in the women’s team and mixed doubles events, respectively.
With the win, she also became the first Filipina singles player to win a gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games’ history of 26 years. Her victory comes following former tennis icons Pia Tamayo (1981) and Maricris Fernandez (1999).
Following the win, Eala shared her excitement on the win to Olympics.com and said, “I’m so over the moon. To be able to bring this sort of pride to my country is something I’ve only dreamt about.”
Eala’s victory comes special as she dedicated the win to her mother, Rizza Maniego-Eala, who is a former swimmer and a SEA Games bronze medallist in the women’s 100m backstroke won 40 years back.
In the interview, she also went ahead to credit her teammates. She mentioned, “It was just so surreal. Just the experience of being with this team, I think we had such a good dynamic, that they really made the experience special.”
Eala also describes the achievement as a dream come true, especially as a player coming from the Philippines and performing at such a big event and representing her region.
“It’s a very different field, because this is something so unique to Southeast Asia, and it means something that a lot of people from Europe or America might not get. This has been something that people from my region look up to and dream about since they’re young,” she also added.
Eala prepares for the 2026 season
Eala ends her 2025 season on a gold medal finish and makes it to the top 50 for the first time after starting this season at no. 147. As per the World Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, she is at no. 53 after winning her maiden title in the WTA Challenger event held in Guadalajara, followed by the first-ever gold medal for the Philippines after adding five bronze medals in the SEA Games and two from the Asian Games.
With this, she now moves ahead in preparation for her first tournament of the 2026 season, which is the WTA 250 scheduled to be held in Auckland, New Zealand, from January 5 to 11. Following this, she is aiming for the Australian Open, which will take place from January 18 to February 1, 2026.
