Floyd Mayweather to come out of retirement for rematch with Manny Pacquiao
Floyd Mayweather is to face Manny Pacquiao in a rematch of the richest fight in history in Las Vegas on September 19th.
Philippines Sport News
Canadian women dunk Senegal 72-57 in Olympic pre-qualifying tournament opener
Kayla Alexander scored a team-high 16 points and hauled in seven rebounds as Canada's senior women's national basketball team opened the FIBA Olympic pre-qualifying tournament with a 72-57 win over Senegal on Monday in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Novak Djokovic ousted from Cincinnati Open in his first match since Wimbledon
MASON, Ohio: Novak Djokovic’s stay at the Cincinnati Open was a short one. The 24-time major champion fell to Thiago Agustin Tirante 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday in a match that took 2 hours, 44 minutes in hot and humid conditions. A 25-year-old from Argentina, Tirante is ranked No. 50 in the world. The 39-year-old Djokovic — a three-time Cincinnati Open champion and No. 5 in the rankings — was playing for the first time since his loss to top-ranked Jannik Sinner in the semifinals at Wimbledon.
‘I want to be Eala’: Philippine sensation sparks tennis boom at home
MANILA: On a Manila court made of crushed seashells, an earnest four-year-old sends a forehand sailing wide — one of dozens of kids aiming to follow in the footsteps of the Philippines’ first homegrown tennis sensation, Alexandra Eala. The 21-year-old’s rise has sparked a rush of interest in a sport typically seen as the preserve of the elite in a country best known for its love of basketball, boxing and cockfighting. Racquet sales are up and scoring one of the few available playing venues has become next to impossible as parents cram their pre-schoolers onto practice courts. “Apart from just bringing in people to watch, she’s actually (got) people to play,” Philippine Tennis Association (PhilTA) executive director Tonette Mendoza told AFP. “Maybe the parents of these kids, they’re thinking: Hey, if we do this, maybe they can be the next Alex,” she said. A now-famous photo of Eala diving flat out for a ball at Wimbledon’s Center Court was all it took to convince nine-year-old Mayumi Stevens. “I felt like, wow, that’s going to be me,” Stevens told AFP as she waited to train alongside older pre-teens at the Alabang Tennis Academy in an exclusive Manila suburb. “I want to be Eala when I grow up.” ‘Onto the bandwagon’ French sporting goods retailer Decathlon is among the companies riding the Eala wave in the Philippines, busily reworking its store displays and social media after seeing sales of beginner racquets spike 66 percent in the past year. “We really had to jump onto the bandwagon … creating content that’s very relatable, that’s very timely for whatever’s happening with Alex right now,” partnerships and communications manager Vince Roque told AFP. PhilTA estimates there are fewer than 1,000 tennis courts in the
Rybakina tops Osaka at NBO Toronto, Gauff advances on walkover after Bencic withdraws
An early match time didn't faze Elena Rybakina on Tuesday at the National Bank Open. Neither did a strong start by her opponent.
Rybakina, Gauff advance to Toronto quarter-finals
TORONTO, Canada: World number two Elena Rybakina battled her way into the WTA Canadian Open quarter-finals on Sunday, while fourth-ranked Coco Gauff cruised into the last eight. Kazakhstan’s Rybakina outlasted Russian Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 after two hours and 49 minutes, before American Gauff eliminated Russian teen qualifier Alina Korneeva 6-3, 6-1 in Toronto. Rybakina, down two breaks at 0-3 in the third set, rallied to book a quarter-final against the winner of the last-16 match between four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and home hope Leylah Fernandez. Gauff reached the last eight in Canada for the first time since 2023. Her seventh WTA quarter-final of the year will be against either Swiss 12th seed Belinda Bencic or Alexandra Eala, the in-form Filipino who won her first WTA title earlier this week in Washington. Gauff, who has not dropped a set in Canada, fired 16 winners against 15 unforced errors. “My main focus today was let me try and close it out,” Gauff said.
Filipino tennis star Alex Eala riding a wave of popularity into Toronto tournament
When rising Filipino tennis star Alex Eala plays on Canadian soil at the National Bank Open in Toronto, she'll be on centre court in front of a sold out crowd of 10,000.
First WTA title for Alex Eala and Philippines
Alexandra Eala became the first player from the Philippines to win a WTA Tour-level singles title, following a rain-delayed Washington Open final on Monday (Aug 3).
Eala powers past Pegula for first WTA title in Washington
WASHINGTON: Alexandra Eala capped her giant-killing run at the Washington Open with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over top-seeded Jessica Pegula on Monday to become the first player from the Philippines to win a WTA title. Eala, ranked 28th, overpowered Pegula over the final two sets as play resumed in the final suspended after lengthy weather delays on Sunday. The 21-year-old left-hander produced a rock-solid service display and an impressive array of winners to deny third-ranked Pegula a 12th career title and a third this year. She won the last nine games of the contest, surrendering just eight points in the third set. “Just pure happiness,” Eala said of her first title, which comes after she agonizingly failed to convert four championship points in her only prior final at Eastbourne last year. “Oh my gosh, winning a 500, it’s insane. It’s an incredible milestone for me,” she added. “At the beginning of the week, there is no way I would have thought that I would be holding this trophy.