Alex Eala set to play star who has beaten Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios this year
Alexandra Eala is already in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Asian Games, as she looks to secure a gold medal for the Philippines.
The 21-year-old had a bye in the first round of the tournament and then made light work of Thai player Patcharin Cheapchandej in the second round, defeating her 6-1, 6-0.
Eala, who is also looking to win a gold medal in the doubles draw alongside Shaira Rivera, is now just three victories away from securing her very first gold medal at the Asian Games.
The star has two Asian Games bronze medals to her name, having collected one in the singles and one in the doubles at the Hangzhou Games in 2022.
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Standing in the way of Eala next is Joanna Garland, who grabbed headlines earlier this year at the 2026 Australian Open.
Garland, who is representing Taiwan at the Asian Games, reached the final of the Australian Open’s One Point Slam at the beginning of the year.
The tournament pitted professionals and amateurs against each other, with the competitors battling it out over just one point.
Garland managed to defeat both Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev at the event, before she was beaten by Australian amateur Jordan Smith.
Despite her exploits at the Australian Open, Eala will enter the match as the heavy favourite to reach the semifinals of the Asian Games.
Garland is currently ranked world No 143 on the WTA Tour, which is 126 places below Eala’s current ranking of world No 17.
Nevertheless, Garland has proved she can perform on the very biggest of stages and she will not be a pushover. Just recently, she reached the round of 16 of the Singapore Open, having come through qualifying.
Eala is the heavy favourite to claim the gold medal at the Asian Games, but she will have her work cut out for her from this point on at the event.
Should she find a way past Garland in the last eight, she will likely play Wang Xinyu in the semifinals. The Chinese star has previously been ranked inside the top 50 and she reached the fourth round of Roland Garros earlier this year.
At this point in time, Eala’s most likely final opponent, should she get there, looks to be Yulia Putinseva. Putinseva is a former top 20 player on the WTA Tour and she is a three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist.
She might be ranked outside the top 70 of the rankings currently, but she will provide an almighty test for Eala as she looks to claim Asian Games gold for the first time in her already glittering career.
