MANILA — Filipina tennis ace Alexandra Eala sent another strong signal ahead of the season’s first Grand Slam after carving out a second straight victory over Olympic silver medalist Donna Vekic, prevailing 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday in the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, Australia.
The win underscored Eala’s growing consistency against top-tier opponents, coming just days after she also dispatched Vekic in the opening round of the ASB Classic in New Zealand. Beating the former world No. 19 twice in succession highlighted the 20-year-old’s readiness as she builds momentum heading into the Australian Open.
Eala seized control late in the opening set, closing it out with an ace to take a 6-3 advantage. In the second set, she quickly recovered from an early deficit and reeled off a strong run to turn the match in her favor.
After leveling the set at 2-all, Eala strung together a series of points to move ahead 4-2, then held serve to stretch the lead to 5-3. She calmly closed out the contest despite Vekic holding serve to stay in the match.
The result capped a strong start to Eala’s 2026 campaign, with the Victorias City, Negros Occidental native now winning four of her first five singles matches this season. She recently climbed to a new career-high world ranking of No. 49.
The Kooyong Classic, a three-day exhibition tournament that offers no ranking points, served as part of Eala’s final tune-up ahead of the Australian Open./PN
