Even in victory, Alex Eala remained humble as ever as she acknowledged how great of a player world No. 69 Donna Vekić is after their thrilling match in the Round of 32 of the 2026 WTA 250 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
Real Talent Recognizes Real Talent
The 20-year-old Alex Eala said in her post-game interview that it wasn’t easy battling a player as good as Vekić, whose resume includes a silver medal in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“It was a very close match, and thankfully, I was able to steal a couple points and perform well in certain difficult moments,” Eala said. “But it didn’t go my way in the first set. So I think that just shows how tough it was out there.”
Eala, ranked No. 53 in the world, started the match with a 3-0 lead, but the 29-year-old Croatian clawed back to win the final two games to take the set.
The 2025 SEA Games gold medalist then took set 2 to force a decider. Tied at 3-3 Eala kept her focus to move ahead, 5-3. From there, Eala stayed on the front foot, attacking Vekic’s delivery again to seal the win.
“Like you said, she’s such an experienced player and super talented and definitely very decorated,” she said of the Olympian. “So, I really had a tough time today, but I’m most happy about being able to compete and show up at the level like this, especially after such a tough preseason and so many things that’s happened over the past month. So, I’m proud about that.”
A Tougher Challenge Ahead
After winning her first ever three-set match of the 2026 season, the Filipina is now set to battle world No. 82 Petra Marcinko in the Round of 16.
And if Eala is harboring thoughts of a longer run in New Zealand, she will have to figure out ways to better take care leads, especially in crucial moments. This particular flaw of giving up leads was noticeable in Eala’s 2025 campaign, which often would see the 20-year-old start strong and get ahead, only to falter in the end.
Now, beating Vekic is great and all, but the road ahead is only going to get tougher. That means Alex Eala will need to step up her game even more moving forward.
