The Philippines’ Alex Eala sheds a tear after her defeat to Australia’s Maya Joint in their women’s singles final tennis match on day six of the Lexus Eastbourne International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, southern England, on June 28, 2025. Joint won the match in three sets, 12-10 in a third-set tie-break. (Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala came up short in winning her first Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) championship after a heartbreaking 4-6, 6-1, 6(10)-7 loss to Maya Joint of Australia in the Lexus Eastbourne Open final on Saturday evening (Manila time).
In the first-ever duel between rising stars, Eala faltered after squandering four championship points in the tiebreak to hand the WTA 250 title to Joint, who collapsed to the floor after delivering the winner to survive the grueling match.
READ: Alex Eala faces defending champion in Wimbledon main draw debut
The story continues 📖
Alexandra Eala responds by taking the second set 6-1 against Joint.#LexusEastbourneOpen pic.twitter.com/kqzSWQu3jq
— wta (@WTA) June 28, 2025
Eala shed tears as she lost steam in her maiden WTA final and her first one on grass, and this season.
She was two points away from the title with a 5-3 lead in the tiebreak before the 19-year-old Joint dragged her to multiple extensions.
The 20-year-old also blew a 2-0 lead in the third set, as the world No. 51 netter won four straight games to turn the tables around for a 4-2 advantage.
Eala was quick to get her act together, stringing up three consecutive games to reach championship point, 5-4, only for Joint to force a decider.
The Rafa Nadal Academy graduate started flat in the opening set, falling to a 2-5 deficit to the Aussie prodigy. But she was able to cut it down to one, 4-5, but only for Joint to bag the 10th game and draw first blood.
READ: Alex Eala reaches first WTA Tour final at Eastbourne Open
Undeterred, the Filipino tennis sensation bounced back and dominated the second, using a 2-0 start to set the tone en route to setting up the deciding set.
Less than 24 hours ago, Eala fended off a gritty French Varvara Gracheva, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, to advance to the championship game.
The world No. 74 worked her way from the qualifiers, defeating Zeynep Sonmez, 6-1, 6-3, and Hailey Baptiste, 6(1)-7, 7-6(4), 6-1, to advance to the main draw.
She took down Lucia Bronzetti, 6-0, 6-1, and won by walkover against Jelena Ostapenko, 0-6, 6-2, 3-2, to march to the quarterfinal, where she swept Dayana Yastremska, 6-1, 6-2.
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Eala will have a short turnaround as she makes her Wimbledon main draw debut on Monday against defending champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.
It will be her second women’s Grand Slam appearance this year, following a first-round exit at the French Open last May.