LIVE: Alex Eala at Eastbourne Open final vs Maya Joint MANILA, Philippines — Struggling to fight off her tears, Alex Eala still flashed a smile as she received her Lexus Eastbourne Open runner-up trophy after a heartbreaking loss to Australia’s rising star Maya Joint in a grueling final.

Alexandra Eala made history as the first Filipino to reach a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) singles final but fell short of capturing the title to Australia’s Maya Joint in a dramatic three-set final at the Lexus Eastbourne Open in Great Britain on Saturday.

When tennis powers downgraded the storied WTA tournament at Eastbourne, on the south coast of the U.K., fans and business owners in the town feared the consequences. It went from a 500-level event to a 250,