Alex Eala rallies to beat Croatia’s Vekic, advances to quarterfinals

ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA recovered from a first-set meltdown to hack out a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 comeback win against Croatia’s Donna Vekic in Round 1 of the 2026 ASB Classic singles on Tuesday at the ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland, New Zealand.

Ms. Eala, WTA No. 53, wasted a red-hot 3-0 start in the opener to move on the brink of an early exit before showing steely nerves in the next two frames for a hard-earned first singles win this season.

The fourth-seeded Ms. Eala, on the heels of a doubles victory with American partner Iva Jovic, needed two hours and 40 minutes in the marathon match to get the better of the WTA No. 69 Ms. Vekic.

Up next for Ms. Eala in the Round of 16 on Wednesday is another Croatian in WTA No. 82 Petra Marcinko, who scored a 6-4, 0-6, 7-6(2) win over Colombia’s Camila Osorio, WTA No. 76.

“It’s so special. If there’s one thing I learned in 2025, it’s that home is the people and not the place. Thank you everyone. Maraming salamat,” said the 20-year-old wunderkind as Filipinos abroad came in groves anew to rally behind her.

“Like you said, Donna is such an experienced and super talented player. She’s definitely a decorated player so I really had a tough time today. I’m most happy about being able to compete and show up at a level like this after a tough pre-season. I’m proud about that.”

Ms. Eala did, facing an acid test from the 29-year-old Croatian who has won four WTA titles in her career.

Holder of a lone title in her young career so far, the lefty sensation rode on the momentum of her doubles win against the super tandem of Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina and the US’ Venus Williams on Monday for a 3-0 start in the first set only to settle for just one win the rest of the way.

Ms. Vekic unloaded a 6-1 blast on Ms. Eala to take the opener and even led 3-2 in the second set for a potential sweep.

But Ms. Eala wasn’t keen on absorbing an early elimination in her first tournament this year after a banner 2025 campaign, returning the favor on the more seasoned foe with a 4-1 run of her own to force a rubber.

It proved to be a back-and-forth duel from there with both players taking turns at the driver’s seat before Ms. Eala netted the last two, breaking Ms. Vekic’s serve punctuated by a lightning forehand at the baseline for the win.

The Southeast Asian Games gold medalist will take a break from the singles campaign to prepare for the doubles quarterfinals on Thursday at 6:30 a.m. against Czechia’s Jesika Maleckova and Mexico’s Renata Zarazua, who beat home bet Erin Routliffe and Asia Muhammad of the United States, 3-6, 6-2, 12-10.

Ms. Eala and the 18-year-old Ms. Jovic, WTA No. 35, advanced to the Last 16 after stunning the seven-time major champion Ms. Williams and former WTA Tour finals titlist Ms. Svitolina in the opener, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1. — John Bryan Ulanday