Alexandra Eala's streak snapped: Indonesian qualifer continues Cinderella run

Alexandra Eala was surprised in the quarterfinals of the Sao Paulo Open, ending a seven-match winning streak. The 20-year-old Filipina makes a surprising exit from the WTA 250 tournament after falling to Janice Tjen, a world No. 130 from Indonesia who defeated her 6-4, 6-3 to advance to her first-ever WTA semifinal.

Everything had been joyful in recent weeks for Eala, who had found a great run of form. The 20-year-old, one of the big surprises of the 2025 season, had won the title at the Guadalajara Challenger 125 a week earlier and traveled quickly to São Paulo to get back on the courts in the inaugural edition of the Brazilian tournament.

The third seed secured solid wins against Yasmine Mansouri (6-0, 6-2) and Julia Riera (6-1, 6-4) to book her place in the quarterfinals. However, she ran into a determined Tjen, a qualifier who overcame an early 0-3 deficit by winning 12 of the next 14 games. The 23-year-old Indonesian secured her best historical ranking as world No. 115. This will be the first WTA-level semifinal for Tjen, who is quickly approaching the top 100.

Eala's campaign comes to an end in São Paulo, but she can draw positive conclusions from her weeks after the US Open. A good sum of points leaves her at a new career-high ranking of world No. 55. She will travel to the Asian Swing with two WTA 250 tournaments ahead of her, which will allow her to continue climbing the rankings in the final part of the season.

First Set

Eala came out showing her favoritism from the start, taking early control thanks to a couple of good service games and a break at love. The Filipina advanced to a 3-0 lead and seemed to be starting another easy day in a tournament where she has been a crowd favorite. However, Tjen showed her weapons, getting the break back and going on a three-game run to tie the set at 3-3.

Eala didn't lose her focus and went up 4-3 on her serve, but from there, she lost control of the match. Tjen found consistency with her first serve, winning 73% of her first-serve points compared to just 59% for her opponent. At the moment of greatest pressure, it was Tjen who handled her nerves better, going on a good run to close out the set 6-4 after 39 minutes. The Indonesian had won six of the last seven games, capitalizing on Eala's constant errors.

Second Set

The second set began with Eala resetting and winning her first service game, regaining hope in the match. However, she couldn't do much more, with only a 52% first-serve percentage and not winning a single point on her second serve throughout the set. Tjen played aggressively to take advantage of her opponent's service deficiencies, and she managed to solve her own service problems from the first set.

As a result, Tjen responded with a break that put her ahead in the third game, then saved a couple of break points against her to go up 3-1. After saving the break points and going on a three-game winning streak, the Indonesian had no trouble maintaining her lead in the final part of the match. Eala never managed to improve her serve, and Tjen went on a run of three consecutive breaks, with flawless service games, to close out the win 6-4, 6-1, taking 12 of the last 14 games played.

Match Statistics Tjen vs. Eala