Alexandra Eala Makes History with First WTA Final Appearance at Eastbourne
Alexandra Eala etched her name into tennis history on Friday by becoming the first Filipina to reach a WTA tour-level final. The 20-year-old triumphed over Varvara Gracheva in a gripping three-set semifinal at the Lexus Eastbourne Open, winning 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
Eala, who trained at the Rafael Nadal Academy, continues her impressive 2024 season, following her hard-court semifinal run at the Miami Open and a tight clay-court battle against Iga Swiatek at the Mutua Madrid Open. Now, she’s proving just as dangerous on grass, storming into her first career WTA final after surviving a tough fight against Gracheva — a qualifier who advanced past Barbora Krejcikova via walkover.
“This win means so much. It was such a physical and mental battle,” Eala said. “She’s a strong player and coming from qualifying, so I knew it wouldn’t be easy.”
The Quezon City native had to fight her way through the Eastbourne qualifying rounds, dropping just three games to Dayana Yastremska in the quarterfinals. Eala dominated that match 6-1, 6-2, and broke serve seven times. In the semis, she regrouped after a difficult second set and surged ahead in the decider, breaking Gracheva twice before closing out the match with a love hold at 5-3.
Eala now awaits the winner of the other semifinal between Maya Joint and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Pavlyuchenkova, the most seasoned player left in the draw with 12 WTA titles, reached the semis after a 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 victory over Kamilla Rakhimova.
With four unseeded players in the final four and a historic title within reach, Eala’s momentum heading into her Wimbledon main-draw debut next week couldn’t be stronger. She’s scheduled to face defending champion Barbora Krejcikova in the first round at SW19.
Notably, this was not the first grass-court meeting between Eala and Gracheva — the Filipino lefty also beat her in Nottingham qualifying less than two weeks ago.
📺 Watch Eala vs. Gracheva replay or stream live matches at TennisChannel.com (match aired Friday, June 27, 6 a.m. ET)
