Home heartbreak, ranking breakthrough: Alexandra Eala falls in Manila but hits career-high
WTAFriday, 30 January 2026 at 01:00
Alexandra Eala was eliminated from her home tournament, the WTA 125 Manila Open, after falling in the semifinals to Colombian Camila Osorio. The Filipina had secured comfortable wins in the first two rounds, but ultimately ran into a wall against the South American, a former world No. 33.
Even so, her recent victories allowed her to add new ranking points at a time of the season when she is practically not defending any points, enabling her to reach her best ranking so far, as she currently sits at world No. 45 in the live rankings.
The 20-year-old returned to the Philippines following a quick disappointment at the Australian Open. After her semifinal appearance at the ASB Classic in Auckland, she did not have many days to adapt to Melbourne and was eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open by American Alycia Parks, squandering a one-set lead in a 6-0, 3-6, 2-6 defeat.
Eala quickly made her way to Manila thanks to a wildcard from the organisers and entered the tournament as the second seed. She swiftly showed her favourite status, defeating world No. 163 Alina Charaeva (6-1, 6-2) and world No. 140 Himeno Satasume (6-4, 6-0).
Those wins gave confidence to the Filipina, but she faced a demanding challenge in the quarter-finals: the always tricky Osorio, the fifth seed and currently ranked world No. 84, a player well known for her ability to grind through long battles.
Osorio stands firm against home favourite Eala
It was a match in which the Colombian did not waver in the face of Eala’s home support and was consistently the one holding the upper hand throughout the contest. Osorio secured a break in the third game, although Eala quickly responded by breaking back.
Both players were evenly matched on serve, winning 63% of points on their first serve, but Osorio’s effectiveness on the second serve proved decisive (64% compared to 53%), in addition to her superiority in the key moments.
Indeed, in the seventh game — with the score level at 3-3 — Osorio capitalised on another break opportunity to take the lead. This time, she held onto her serve and, without facing another break point, closed out the opening set 6-4 after 41 minutes.
A rollercoaster second set decided by fine margins
The second set turned into a rollercoaster of breaks at the start. The first four games were consecutive breaks, with Osorio taking the lead and Eala responding immediately each time. The first player to finally hold serve was Eala in the fifth game, taking a 3-2 lead — not without first saving a break point against her.
Osorio responded on serve, but once again service games became unstable for both players. It was a tense battle, in which Eala won just 39% of points on her serve, while Osorio fared only slightly better at 45%. In total, there were seven breaks in the ten games played in the second set.
The match remained level at 4-4, at which point Osorio secured one final break and fulfilled her responsibility of serving for the match, sealing the victory 6-4, 6-4.
Ranking implications and what comes next
Osorio’s win allows her to continue offsetting the loss of points she will suffer next week, as she was defending points from the second round of the 2025 Australian Open and the quarter-finals of the Singapore Challenger. By reaching the semifinals in Manila, she has ensured valuable points and currently sits at No. 96 in the live rankings.
For the Colombian, a drop in the rankings will be inevitable unless she manages to claim the title in Manila, while her next opponent will be 21-year-old Argentine Solana Sierra (No. 63).
On Eala’s side, she departs having climbed positions up to No. 45, and with no points to defend in the coming weeks, all indications suggest she will continue to rise in the rankings — even without major results. Eala’s next commitments will be at the Abu Dhabi Open, starting on Monday after receiving a wildcard into the main draw, followed by the WTA 1000 Doha Open, where she will look to secure a spot through the qualifiers.
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