MANILA — Alexandra “Alex” Eala barely broke a sweat in booking a quarterfinal berth in the 2026 Asian Games women’s singles, demolishing Thailand’s Patcharin Cheapchandej, 6-1, 6-0, in just 55 minutes on Monday in Japan.
The Filipina tennis ace surrendered only one game in a commanding Round of 16 performance as she moved into the last eight and kept alive her bid for an Asian Games medal in Nagoya.
Eala won 22 of 32 points on her first serve and 13 of 15 on her second while converting all seven of her break-point opportunities.
She was equally sharp on return, taking 25 of 31 receiving points and allowing Cheapchandej to win only the second game of the opening set.
Eala committed two double faults, matching Cheapchandej’s total, but otherwise encountered little resistance on her way to the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the Philippine women’s doubles tandem of Tenny Madis and Stefi Aludo kept its campaign alive with a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Indonesia’s Anjali Junarto and Meydiana Reinnamah.
Francis Alcantara and Shaira Rivera also advanced to the Round of 16 of the mixed doubles after surviving Iran’s Safi Meshkatolzahra and Kasra Rahmani, 6-4, 1-6, 10-8./PN
