Top seed Alex Eala continued her flawless grass-court run after sweeping Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the semifinals of the WTA 125 Birmingham Open in the United Kingdom.
The 21-year-old Filipina needed just 81 minutes to dispatch her familiar regional rival, the same opponent she defeated for the gold medal at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games.
Eala entered the quarterfinals with strong momentum after straight-set wins over Australia’s Priscilla Hon and Russia’s Alina Charaeva. She quickly imposed her rhythm against Sawangkaew, racing to a 5-1 lead before closing out the opening set.
Sawangkaew briefly pushed ahead, 2-1, in the second set, but Eala immediately regained control. The Filipina won the next five games to seal another dominant victory and preserve her unbeaten set record in Birmingham.
“I’ll take the experience that I got from this match,” Eala said in her post-match interview, acknowledging the challenge of facing a familiar opponent on a bigger stage.
The world No. 37 has adjusted smoothly from clay to grass, opening her campaign with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Hon before sweeping Charaeva in the next round.
Eala now stands two wins away from another WTA 125 title. She will face Switzerland’s Rebeka Masarova, who advanced after outlasting American Mary Stoiana in three sets.
Eala and Masarova clash today at around 6 p.m. Manila time, with the winner advancing to the final and moving closer to the US$33,650 women’s singles champion’s purse at the Lexus Birmingham Open.