Alex Eala earns the Philippines’ another historic win as she defeats Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew in the 2025 Southeast Asian Games’ Women’s Singles tennis finals on December 18. Eala won in two straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, in a contentious match that saw three questionable calls from a linesman and multiple lulls that disrupted the world no. 53.
The Philippines’ flag bearer, the 20-year-old tennis phenomenon beat Malaysia’s Shihomi Leong, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals, and Thailand’s Naklo Thasaporn, 6-1, 6-4, in the semis on the way to the finals against Sawangkaew to a packed crowd at the National Tennis Development Center in Nonthaburi, Thailand.
Eala delivers the Philippines’ 39th gold medal in the 2025 SEA Games, ending a 26-year gold medal drought in the women’s tennis singles. It was 1999 when Maricris Fernandez took home the Philippines’ last gold medal in the category.
3 Wrong Calls
The 2025 Southeast Asian Games’ Women’s Singles tennis finals, though seemingly one-sided in favor of Eala, was not short of drama. Fending off multiple deuces against Sawangkaew, Eala’s gold medal win was no easy feat. The 20-year-old also had something to prove, having lost to Sawangkaew last year at the ITF Takasaki tournament in Japan.
In the second set, at one game all, after a third erroneous call by a linesman — all overruled by the umpire, Eala — requested that the linesman be replaced. But even before that, there was an ill-timed long break after the first set, seemingly to put Eala off her game.
Sawangkaew also made two equipment change breaks to replace her insoles, which was allowed, an instance that also took place during the Thai’s semi-finals bout against Indonesia’s Janice Tjen. Prior to Tjen’s loss to Sawangkaew, the Indonesian no. 1 and world no. 54 was predicted to face Eala in the finals. The second seed, Tjen, retired after the first set due to breathing issues.
In a post-match interview, Eala said she has already considered this a great start to a new season, though the next tennis tour season begins in January. The 2025 SEA Games gold medal finish caps off Eala’s 2025 season, which saw her break records and make historic wins. At the Miami Open, she beat three Grand Slam champions, and later made history as the first Filipino to win a match at a Grand Slam singles tournament in the Open era, after a foiled debut in the French Open.
After multiple breakthrough wins on tour this year, Eala reached her best ranking at 50 in November.
