Reflecting on her semi-final exit from the ASB Classic, Alexandra Eala knew things could have ended differently.
The 20-year-old from the Philippines was among the stars on centre court at Stanley Street before being ousted in the final four by China’s Wang Xinyu in a tense three-set battle on Saturday.
But the tournament was an experience the third seed was grateful to have, both on and off the court.
“I’m so happy with this week,” Eala told the Herald.
“I definitely had my chances today, but despite that, I think there’s so many positives to take away from this match. I went out with a fight, so, I’m happy about that, too.”
The world No 50 exited from the tournament after making a deep run in both the singles and doubles draws, making it into the semi-finals with playing partner Iva Jovic, of America. Both players were eliminated in the singles semi-finals.
“I think both had their own highlights,” Eala said of playing in both tournaments.
“Playing with Iva was very fun. I think we had good chemistry on court and obviously against Venus [Williams], you know, it’s not an everyday thing. So, that’s already been a highlight of my year.”
Eala quickly became a fan favourite in her first tournament of the season, with vocal support from the crowd and she attracted fabulous encouragement from the local Filipino community.
As a group of Filipino fans in the grandstand from Henderson told the Herald, “everybody loves her.”
“The Philippines have never had a tennis player as good as her, so obviously that is big for everyone. And she is very charming,” one fan said.
“And she is very proud to be a Filipino, proud of her heritage and her family,” another added. “So that makes us feel proud.”
The fanfare certainly wasn’t lost on the young player.
“It really made the week,” Eala said. “It’s different when you have a lot of support on your back and makes things more fun.”
While the support for Eala was evident to anyone in the arena to watch her play, so too was it to ASB Classic tournament director Nicolas Lamperin, who noted it was clear that the 20-year-old was a star on the rise.
“As an example, our social media has gone through the roof with her. Usually we would post a video from players who might get I don’t know, 50,000 to 200,000 views,” Lamperin said.
“With Alex, it’s anywhere between 500,000 to two million. It’s a different level. She has the potential to be one of the biggest stars in tennis.”
Eala had a strong year on tour in 2025, which included beating current world No 2 and six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek in Miami and winning the WTA 125 Guadalajara Open.
In Auckland, Eala showed glimpses of her potential on the court with impressive wins over Petra Marcinko (6-0 6-2) and fifth seed Magda Linette (6-3 6-2).
She also showed her ability to fight back into contests. In round one, Eala had to come back from a set down to beat Donna Vekic (4-6 6-4 6-4), while she came back from 1-5 down to win the first set in her semi-final against Wang.
Eala had match point in the second set of that clash but was unable to capitalise, with Wang taking the set 7-5.
In the decider, it wasn’t to be for Eala.
Having left the court for treatment due to an ab issue, to which she later made a point of saying did not impact the result, the young star fell into another 1-5 hole. While she brought it back to 4-5, she wasn’t able to get another break to extend the match.
“There are definitely moments in the match I could have done better, like the match point,” Eala said, reflecting on what she could learn from such a loss.
“I think it’s just to manage how you handle those moments. But it’s not my first time. I just feel like every time you just have to, I wouldn’t say wing it, but, you know, just more experience in the bag.”