MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis sensation Alexandra "Alex" Eala is now a two-time International Tennis Federation (ITF) champion on the professional tour, after winning the W25 Chiang Rai title in Thailand on Sunday over home bet Luksika Kumkhum, 6-4, 6-2.

Eala's championship win over wildcard Kumkhum comes more than a year after her breakthrough ITF title victory in January 2021 at the first leg of the W15 Manacor tournament in Spain.

The final between 16 year-old Eala, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) World No. 533, and 28-year-old Kumkhum, the WTA World No. 955, lasted for 1 hour and 22 minutes at Court 5 of the Chiang Rai Sports Center.

Kumkhum, who has a career-high ranking of World No. 66 in 2018, kicked off the match with a break of serve courtesy of a netted forehand from Eala.

The Filipino responded with a break by bringing the following game to deuce, then firing a forehand that yielded a forehand error from the Thai.

Holds of serve ensued, with Kumkhum saving break points in the fourth and sixth games.

Eala also saved a break point in the seventh game, and advanced to 4-3 by holding serve with a swift forehand down the line winner.

Kumkhum leveled at 4-4 with a quick love service game that was sealed with an ace.

Eala then saved two break points to be at 5-4, and earned a set point in the 10th game after Kumkhum served a double fault.

A long backhand by Kumkhum handed the first set to Eala, 6-4, in 47 minutes.

The second set opened with service holds from both players, until Eala clinched a break to lead at 3-1.

The Filipino fought off resistance in the fifth game, from being at 40-0 to 40-30, and extended her lead to 4-1 after the Thai hit a service return error.

In the sixth game at 30-30, Kumkhum held serve by firing an ace then hitting a strong second serve that resulted in Eala hitting an error.

Eala then amped up her serve to win a love service game and widen her lead to 5-2.

At 30-15 with Kumkhum on serve, Eala hit a sweet forehand volley winner that earned her two match points.

A long forehand by Eala allowed Kumkhum to save the first match point, but a firing forehand down the line ultimately sealed the match for the Filipino teen, 6-2.

Eala's path to the W25 Chiang Rai final began with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over qualifier Katarina Kozarov of Serbia in the opening round.

She defeated wildcard Patcharin Cheapchandej of Thailand in the second round (6-3, 6-4), Momoko Kobori of Japan in the quarterfinals (6-3, 6-3), and YeXin Ma of China in the semifinals (6-3, 6-4).

• READ: Alex Eala storms to W25 Thailand final
• READ: Alex Eala through to W25 Thailand semis

In the doubles draw of the $25,000 Thai tournament, Thai wildcards Cheapchandej and Punnin Kovapitukted trounced Eala and singles top seed Indy de Vroome of the Netherlands in the first round, 4-6, 7-5, 10-6.

Before flying to Thailand for the ITF World Tennis Tour Women's Asia/Oceania tilt, Eala competed as a wildcard among the world's best players at the Miami Open last month.

In the first round, she suffered a 2-6, 1-6 defeat at the hands of then WTA World No. 59 Madison Brengle of the United States.

It was the WTA 1000 main draw debut of Eala, a Rafa Nadal Academy player and recipient of the 2022 ITF Grand Slam Player Development Programme.

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