Alex’s deep run in Hong Kong secures her a top 15 debut, a new career high.
Alexandra “Alex” Eala capped her milestone 2026 season with a runner-up finish at the Hong Kong Open, falling to Claire Liu in the final after a stellar week and four straight wins. It was her second tour-level final of the year—after her breakthrough victory at the WTA 500 Mubadala DC Open in August—highlighting her tremendous growth over a single season.
Alex’s deep Hong Kong run also secures her a top-15 debut and a new career-high when the WTA rankings update today, November 9, lifting her past Sorana Cirstea.
Her Asian swing began on a shaky note, with a surprising first-round loss in Singapore, where she was the heavy favorite, and early exits in Wuhan and Ningbo. She started to regain her form at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, where she reached the quarterfinals.
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Hong Kong saw the Filipino tennis ace rediscover her form, backed by an enthusiastic crowd that braved the unpredictable weather through every game. Since her heartbreaking yet thrilling back-to-back losses to Diana Shnaider in Ningbo and Tokyo, Alex has won four straight matches to reach her third WTA Tour final.
But the path to the final was anything but smooth, with rain delays, an unexpected match against a lucky loser, and a few tense tiebreaks along the way. Here’s how Alex got there.
The road to the final
Alex’s Hong Kong campaign opened against Australian Emerson Jones, who got into the draw as a lucky loser. The No. 2 seed had been scheduled to meet American Alycia Parks in round one, but Parks pulled out with a shoulder injury. Jones, ranked No. 132, had lost to Alexandra Shubladze in qualifying and was promoted to fill the vacant spot. Alex won 6-4, 6-3 and held off a late second-set push.
Next came Tereza Valentova, who had beaten Alex in straight sets twice before, which made this first win over the talented Czech youngster all the sweeter. Alex prevailed 6-4, 7-6(7), having led 5-0 in the second-set tiebreak and needed a fourth match point to close it out.
Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic then provided a tricky quarterfinal test. The 7-6(7), 7-5 win took a seemingly endless two and a half hours, with a rain delay and 29 break points between the pair.
The semifinal against former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari was the toughest test of Alex’s week. The Rafael Nadal Academy alum took the first set 7-5 after several momentum swings. Sakkari answered in the second, handing Alex her first dropped set of the tournament, while rain repeatedly stopped play. Alex broke early in the decider and finished the three-set thriller when Sakkari double-faulted on the second of two match points, sealing a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory.
It was the 21-year-old’s fourth tour-level semifinal of 2026, after the ASB Classic (WTA 250) in Auckland in January, the Berlin Tennis Open (WTA 500) in June, and the Mubadala DC Open (WTA 500) in Washington, D.C. in August, where she ultimately captured her maiden WTA title by beating top seed Jessica Pegula in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.
In the Hong Kong Open final, Alex met a familiar foe in American Claire Liu, who won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0, to claim the first WTA Tour title of her career. The world No. 102 had also won their only previous meeting, a stunning first-round upset at the 2025 Guangzhou Open, when Liu was ranked No. 305 and Alex No. 53. Still, Alex has plenty to be proud of, from a resilient Asian swing to an impressive 2026 season.
In her post-match speech, she congratulated Liu on a “very, very well-deserved” win and thanked her fans for their support. “This season has just changed my life; it’s changed my life for the better,” she said. “I’m really, incredibly proud of the work we’ve put in this year, and we’re the only ones who truly know what it took to arrive at this point in our journey, so thank you so, so much.”
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A breakthrough year
Hong Kong is the latest chapter in the best year yet of Alex’s fledgling career. She began 2026 ranked No. 53 and has since climbed into the top 15. At Wimbledon, she beat defending champion Iga Świątek and became the first Filipino to reach the third round of a Grand Slam.
In Washington, she won the Mubadala DC Open, becoming the first Filipino to win a WTA Tour singles title and the first Southeast Asian to win a WTA 500 title. This momentous win propelled her into the top 20.
She also won the WTA 125 title in Birmingham, reached the Berlin semifinals with wins over Elena Rybakina and Elina Svitolina, and took bronze at the Asian Games.
Her numbers back up the results. Against top-10 players in 2026, Alex is 7-3 (70%), with wins over Jasmine Paolini, Coco Gauff, Świątek, Rybakina, Svitolina (twice), and Pegula. Her career record against the top 10 stands at 9-5. Overall, Alex has a 43-25 singles record (60 matches played) in the 2026 WTA Tour season.
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The Hong Kong Open is Alex’s last official tournament of the year. She then returns home for an exhibition match against Indonesia’s Janice Tjen at the Philippine Arena on December 8.
Alex heads into the offseason with a record to be proud of and a nation behind her, win or lose. If 2026 was her breakthrough, there is every reason to believe that 2027—and the years beyond—will be even brighter.
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