Alex Eala advances to Guadalajara Open quarterfinals after marathon win over Lepchenko

Filipina tennis star Alexandra “Alex” Eala marched into the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara 125 Open in Mexico after outlasting World No. 122 Varvara Lepchenko of the USA, 6(3)-7(7), 7(7)-6(3), 6-3.

The 20-year-old Eala will next face Italy’s Nicole Fossa Huergo, who earlier stunned World No. 7 Katarzyna Kawa of Poland to reach the last eight of the tournament.

Eala’s round-of-16 clash stretched over two days after heavy rain forced play to be suspended Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Manila).

See the highlight post here.

Still raining heavily in Guadalajara.

No play for another hour in the following matches:

Varvara Lepchenko vs Alexandra Eala

Irina Khromacheva / Kamila Rakhimova vs Anastasia Detiuc / Elena Pridankina pic.twitter.com/pPXgGSARGH

— edgeAI (@edgeAIapp) September 4, 2025

At the time of suspension, Eala was ahead 3-2 in the deciding third set, with Lepchenko serving in the sixth game.

The first two sets alone took nearly three hours to complete, with both players trading momentum in grueling tiebreaks. The veteran 39-year-old Lepchenko tested Eala’s stamina with her experience and consistency, but the Filipino held firm to clinch victory once play resumed.

Eala had earlier cruised past Dutch veteran Arianne Hartono, 6-2, 6-2, in their fourth career meeting to advance to the round of 16.

Her strong Guadalajara campaign has already boosted her to No. 70 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) live rankings, moving her closer to her career-high of No. 56 achieved earlier this year.

The milestone follows her historic US Open run last week, where she became the first Filipino to win a Grand Slam singles main draw match after shocking World No. 14 Clara Tauson in the first round. She later bowed out to Spain’s Cristina Bucsa in the second round.

The Guadalajara Open runs until the weekend, after which Eala will head to Brazil for the São Paulo Open from September 8 to 14.

WTA live rankings: live-tennis.eu