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Tennis: Alex Eala conquers W25 Thailand to bag 2nd pro title

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Rosy Mina

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Filipino teen tennis sensation Alex Eala at the 2022 W25 Chiang Rai tournament in Thailand. Photo courtesy of Thailand ITF World Tennis Tour on Facebook" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/04/10/alex.jpg"/><figcaption>Filipino teen tennis sensation Alex Eala at the 2022 W25 Chiang Rai tournament in Thailand. Photo courtesy of Thailand ITF World Tennis Tour on Facebook</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis sensation Alexandra &quot;Alex&quot; Eala is now a two-time International Tennis Federation (ITF) champion on the professional tour, after winning the W25 Chiang Rai title in Thailand on Sunday over home bet Luksika Kumkhum, 6-4, 6-2.Eala&#x27;s championship win over wildcard Kumkhum comes more than a year after her breakthrough ITF title victory in January 2021 at the first leg of the W15 Manacor tournament in Spain.The final between 16 year-old Eala, the Women&#x27;s Tennis Association (WTA) World No. 533, and 28-year-old Kumkhum, the WTA World No. 955, lasted for 1 hour and 22 minutes at Court 5 of the Chiang Rai Sports Center.Kumkhum, who has a career-high ranking of World No. 66 in 2018, kicked off the match with a break of serve courtesy of a netted forehand from Eala.The Filipino responded with a break by bringing the following game to deuce, then firing a forehand that yielded a forehand error from the Thai.Holds of serve ensued, with Kumkhum saving break points in the fourth and sixth games. Eala also saved a break point in the seventh game, and advanced to 4-3 by holding serve with a swift forehand down the line winner.Kumkhum leveled at 4-4 with a quick love service game that was sealed with an ace.Eala then saved two break points to be at 5-4, and earned a set point in the 10th game after Kumkhum served a double fault.A long backhand by Kumkhum handed the first set to Eala, 6-4, in 47 minutes.The second set opened with service holds from both players, until Eala clinched a break to lead at 3-1.The Filipino fought off resistance in the fifth game, from being at 40-0 to 40-30, and extended her lead to 4-1 after the Thai hit a service return error.In the sixth game at 30-30, Kumkhum held serve by firing an ace then hitting a strong second serve that resulted in Eala hitting an error.Eala then amped up her serve to win a love service game and widen her lead to 5-2.At 30-15 with Kumkhum on serve, Eala hit a sweet forehand volley winner that earned her two match points.A long forehand by Eala allowed Kumkhum to save the first match point, but a firing forehand down the line ultimately sealed the match for the Filipino teen, 6-2.Eala&#x27;s path to the W25 Chiang Rai final began with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over qualifier Katarina Kozarov of Serbia in the opening round.She defeated wildcard Patcharin Cheapchandej of Thailand in the second round (6-3, 6-4), Momoko Kobori of Japan in the quarterfinals (6-3, 6-3), and YeXin Ma of China in the semifinals (6-3, 6-4). <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/09/22/tennis-alex-eala-storms-to-w25-thailand-final">READ: Alex Eala storms to W25 Thailand final</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/08/22/tennis-alex-eala-through-to-w25-thailand-semis">READ: Alex Eala through to W25 Thailand semis</a></li></ul>In the doubles draw of the $25,000 Thai tournament, Thai wildcards Cheapchandej and Punnin Kovapitukted trounced Eala and singles top seed Indy de Vroome of the Netherlands in the first round, 4-6, 7-5, 10-6.Before flying to Thailand for the ITF World Tennis Tour Women&#x27;s Asia/Oceania tilt, Eala competed as a wildcard among the world&#x27;s best players at the Miami Open last month.In the first round, she suffered a 2-6, 1-6 defeat at the hands of then WTA World No. 59 Madison Brengle of the United States. It was the WTA 1000 main draw debut of Eala, a Rafa Nadal Academy player and recipient of the 2022 ITF Grand Slam Player Development Programme.<div>RELATED VIDEO:</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1706069" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Alex Eala is now a two-time ITF champion on the professional tour, after winning the W25 Chiang Rai title in Thailand on Sunday over Luksika Kumkhum.