May 1, 2026 - In an historic tennis event, two Filipina tennis darlings faced off at this year’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany on April 14, 2026. In the end, Canadian Filipino Leylah Annie Fernandez defeated rising star Alex Eala 6-1, 6-4 in an hour and a half.
This is the first time that the two tennis pros of Filipino descent, both left-handed, played against each other in a World Tennis Association (WTA) event.
Twenty-three year old Fernandez started strong, surging to a 4-0 lead but Eala broke her momentum, earning a break point in the fifth game. Fernandez also failed to serve out for the match in the eighth game, blowing two consecutive match points on 20-year-old Eala’s serve in the next game. By the tenth game however, Fernandez regained focus and continued to dominate the game to ultimately claim victory in the end.
Fernandez, now seeded 24th in WTA rankings, went on to win the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain on April 23 against Austrian Julia Grabher. She advanced to the third round two days later, winning against 15th seed American Iva Jovic with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory. Fernandez then advanced to the quarterfinals after beating American Ann Li on Monday making her the only Canadian to make it to the quarterfinals. However, Fernandez suffered a 7-6, 6-3 loss to ninth-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia.
Meanwhile 44th seeded Eala, suffered another defeat at the Madrid Open against 19th seed Belgian Elise Mertens. Eala, who trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, will now focus on her next game at the Italian Open in May. The Filipina sustains strong press and social media presence, drawing big crowds of fellow Filipinos both in the Philippines and abroad.
About the Author
Rachel Ramos-Reid started writing for magazines and newspapers when she was still a junior at the University of the Philippines’ Communication degree program majoring in Journalism. She continued to write in a public relations/corporate communications capacity in various private and government offices until moving out of the country in 1997 to work as Programme Officer for the arts and culture branch of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO-SPAFA) in Bangkok, Thailand. At the end of her term, Rachel found herself immigrating to Canada in the year 2000 and again searching for new beginnings.
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