Alexandra Eala strikes SEA Games gold at Bangkok 40 years after her mom won bronze there

The 2025 WTA Tour season may have wrapped up in November, but Alexandra Eala had one more order of business to carry out on the tennis court following an expedited pre-season.

Mission accomplished.

In 1985, Eala’s mother Rizza Maniego-Eala earned a bronze medal as a swimmer in the 100m backstroke at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Bangkok. Forty years later, Maniego-Eala returned to the Thai capital to watch her daughter carry on the family legacy in golden fashion at the 33^rd edition.

After serving as her nation’s co-flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony and winning bronze in the team and mixed doubles events, the 20-year-old stood atop the podium Thursday. In dismissing local favorite Mananchaya Sawangkaew with a 6-1, 6-2 victory, Eala became the first Filipina singles player since 1999 to capture an SEA Games gold medal.

"I'm so over the moon. To be able to bring this sort of pride to my country is something I've only dreamt about,” Eala reflected with Olympics.com.

“It's a very different field, because this is something so unique to Southeast Asia, and it means something that a lot of people from Europe or America might not get. This has been something that people from my region look up to and dream about since they're young.”

🖥️📲 Watch some of the best matches of 2025 on the Tennis Channel App!

Eala, now the holder of six SEA Games medals following the three bronze she collected as a 17-year-old in Hanoi, is coming off a breakthrough year. The Quezon City native broke the Top 50 on the WTA rankings in an effort that saw her reach the Miami Open semifinals, contest her first tour-level final in Eastbourne and score a maiden Grand Slam main-draw win at the US Open over No. 14 seed Clara Tauson.

A year after falling in the first round of Australian Open qualifying, Eala is set to complete her set of main-draw major debuts in Melbourne come January. Her sophomore season will begin at the ASB Classic in Auckland.

“I went straight from pre-season to this, so I haven't had a break in a couple of weeks. But it was worth it,” she said.

“This tournament definitely was one to prep me for Australia with the heat, so I'm excited.”