WHAT seemed a methodical clinic in Alexandra “Alex” Eala’s debut turned to a stinging meltdown.
Behind a throng of fans, Ms. Eala introduced herself in style with a first-set shutout victory only to run out of gas down the stretch for a 6-0, 3-6, 2-6 collapse to Alycia Parks of the United States in Round One of the 2026 Australian Open (AO) on Monday at Court 6 of the Melbourne Park in Victoria.
The 20-year-old crowd darling, ranked No. 49 for a career-best in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), blanked her foe in a one-sided opener but bled for only five games won the rest of the way as the experience and grit of Ms. Parks, now WTA No. 99, in her seventh Grand Slam stint was on full display for a thrilling comeback win in one hour and 59 minutes.
The 25-year-old Ms. Parks, co-holder of the fastest serve in history for a female player at 129 miles per hour, will face WTA No. 19 Karolina Muchova of Czechia, who scored a 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) win against WTA No. 35 Jaqueline Cristian of Romania, in the Round of 64.
Ms. Parks’ stature as a lightning-quick server came handy when it mattered most, recovering from a scoreless start by wearing down Ms. Eala, slowly but surely, in the next two sets with a total of 12 aces including a thunderous hammer that the Filipina bet could not return in the final game of the deciding set.
Queue lines, with majority sporting Philippine flags, were long and winding hours before the match, the seats were filled to the rafters at game time and the cheers were blaring to every Ms. Eala’s point in what was perceived as a homecourt advantage, around 4,000 miles away from Manila.
But Ms. Parks was cool, calm and collected in neutralizing that, netting nine of her total aces in the last two frames to silence Ms. Eala and an entire nation behind her.
Ms. Parks, who shares the world’s fastest serve with Venus Williams (2007) that she recorded in the 2021 US Open, had six in the second set alone where she returned the favor on Ms. Eala, whose usually potent groundstrokes and counter game cooled down from an electrifying kickoff, with a 3-0 start of her own for a momentum shift.
Not even Ms. Eala’s fightback to tie things up at 3-3 mattered as Ms. Parks’ endurance and stamina brought her home to a decider with another 3-0 finishing kick marked by yet another ace.
It was all Ms. Parks from there, proving her endurance and stamina with another strong start at 2-0 on her way to the win.
Ms. Parks kept Ms. Eala winless in the AO, having been eliminated in the first round of the qualifying phase as a wildcard in the last three years, despite a solid buildup with a final four appearance in the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand and a championship in the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne.
Ms. Eala also failed to score her second Grand Slam main draw win after becoming the first Filipina to do it in the 2024 US Open, stunning then world No. 15 Clara Tauson of Denmark.
But all’s not lost for the Philippine tennis flagbearer and soon-to-be Philippine Sportswriters Association Athlete of the Year co-awardee with a doubles stint starting on Tuesday.
Ms. Eala, with Brazilian partner Ingrid Martins, (WTA doubles No. 79), takes on the tandem of Japan’s Shuko Aoyama (WTA doubles No. 52) and Poland’s Magda Linette (WTA singles No. 50 and doubles No. 140) at 11:30 a.m. (Manila time) on Tuesday.
She will also take home $100,000 (P5.9M) as a sure purse for first-round players.
With Ms. Eala’s early exit against a lower-ranked but more experienced opponent, there is a possibility now for her availability in the WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open for her first-ever home tournament on Jan. 26 to 31 although it will still depend on the outcome of her doubles campaign.
Ms. Eala is listed in the main draw of the country’s historic WTA hosting along with 23 other players seeing action in the AO, where she once reigned as the girls doubles champion in 2020 with Indonesian pal Priska Madelyn Nugroho.
Her coveted first women’s pro victory there, however, has to wait a little while. — John Bryan Ulanday
