How Alex Eala fared in the 2025 clay season

Alta Sports8 hours ago · 31 views

How Alex Eala fared in the 2025 clay season image

Photo by Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images

By Joel Reyes

Alex Eala’s 2026 clay season is about to begin with the Filipina star ramping up her preparations ahead of her debut appearance at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz event next week.

With Eala back on the red dirt, now is the perfect time to revisit her performances on clay last year.

Alex Eala’s 2025 clay season

Eala entered the 2025 clay season on a high after she reached her first-ever WTA 1000 semifinals at the Miami Open last year. Unfortunately for the Quezon City native, the transition to the much slower surface proved to be a difficult one for her.

Eala opened her clay campaign at the Oeiras Ladies Open, a WTA 125 event in Portugal. She defeated Anouk Koevermans in her opening match before crashing out in the Round of 16 against Panna Udvardy.

Eala then made the trip to Spain to compete in the Mutua Madrid Open. She got off to a strong start, beating Viktoriya Tomova in straight sets to arrange a blockbuster clash with Iga Swiatek in the second round.

Eala looked to be headed for another upset win against the Polish star, taking the first set 6-4. Swiatek battled back, though, winning the second and third sets to send the Filipina star packing in the round of 64.

Eala headed to Rome next for the Italian Open, where she faced Marta Kostyuk in the first round. She got a rude awakening in this matchup, losing 0-6, 1-6 to the Ukrainian.

Eala made history in her final clay event of the 2025 season as she made her first-ever appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam at the French Open, facing Emiliano Arango in the first round.

The first set didn’t go according to plan for Eala, who lost 0-6 to the Colombian. The Filipina battled back in the second set, taking it by a score of 6-2 to force a decider. Eala failed to complete the comeback, though, losing the third set 3-6 as her maiden Grand Slam singles appearance ended quickly at Roland Garros.

Eala finished her 2025 clay swing with a 2-4 record. Will the 2026 clay season be a better one for the Filipina star? We’ll soon find out.

All comments 5