Alex Eala showed who the true top dog in Southeast Asia is.
The top-seeded Filipina tennis star overcame a loudly cheering home crowd and repeated questionable calls from a linesman to defeat third-seeded Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand, 6-1, 6-2, in the women’s singles final of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.
Beyond chasing her first-ever SEA Games gold, Eala was also out for redemption.
Sawangkaew had beaten her in the quarterfinals of the ITF Takasaki tournament in Japan last November 2024, 6-4, 1-6, 2-6.
The 20-year-old wasted no time asserting her authority, breaking Sawangkaew in the second game to race to a 3-0 lead.
While the Thai finally got on the board with a service hold in the fourth game, Eala responded by sweeping the next three games to take the opening set convincingly.
(C) POC Media
The second set proved more competitive early on, as the two finalists traded service breaks in the first four games to reach a 2-2 stalemate.
Eala then found her rhythm, holding serve in the sixth game after breaking Sawangkaew in the fifth to build a 4-2 cushion.
Sawangkaew fought hard in the seventh game, pushing Eala through numerous deuces, but the Filipina broke serve once more at the National Tennis Development Centre in Nonthaburi to all but seal the match.
Eala calmly held serve in the eighth game to close out the victory and secure the gold medal.
Eala’s triumph ended a 26-year gold medal drought in women’s tennis for the Philippines, with the previous Filipina champion, Maricris Fernandez, dating back more than three decades.
Meanwhile, the Rafa Nadal Academy also added to the country’s medal haul, as she and Francis Casey Alcantara captured a bronze medal in the mixed doubles competition.
