FILIPINO Alexandra Eala lived up to her billing as the tournament top seed, beating Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew, 6-1, 6-2, Thursday in the women’s singles final of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games tennis tournament at the National Tennis Development Centre in Bangkok, Thailand.
The World No. 53 Eala conquered Malaysia’s Shihomi Leong, 6-3, 6-1, in the quarterfinal and Thailand’s Thasaporn Naklo, 6-1, 6-4, in the semifinals.
“It’s so special. I’ve said many times before that Pinoys are so family-oriented. I think that’s a part of our culture and you know, SEA Games is something– I think, it’s very different than the WTA Tour because it’s very personal to us, personal to the Southeast Asian countries and it’s special in that way,” commented the 20-year-old Eala, who delivered the country’s first gold medal in the women’s singles since Maricris Fernandez at the 1999 Brunei SEA Games.
Eala is also the first to reach the championship match after Clarice Patrimonio, who settled for the silver medal at the 2017 edition held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (PNA)
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