Joint saves four championship points to beat Eala for Eastbourne title
Maya Joint View Profile rallied to win one of the year’s toughest matches at the Lexus Eastbourne Open on Saturday, securing her second Hologic WTA Tour singles title of 2025.
In a matchup of two of the Hologic WTA Tour’s brightest young talents, 19-year-old Maya Joint View Profile of Australia saved four championship points to edge 20-year-old qualifier Alexandra Eala View Profile of the Philippines 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (10) in Saturday’s final.
"I’m very happy right now," Joint said. "It was a very difficult match. That third set, I’m proud of myself for coming back and staying in the match."
The third set was a battle of momentum swings, with each player taking a lead before the match headed to a deciding tiebreak. After 2 hours and 26 minutes, Joint converted her second championship point to complete the escape.
"I think Alex played really well today," Joint said. "She definitely tested me. I think after the first set, she got a lot more aggressive with her balls. I was on the back foot, I felt like, for most of the match. I just needed to try to find a way to get back into it."
Two titles in two months: Joint has now finished as the singles champion in two of her last four WTA events -- and on two distinctly different surfaces. She took the title on the red clay of Rabat in May, and has now backed it up with the grass-court title on the storied lawns of Eastbourne.
After winning the youngest Eastbourne final by combined age since 1981, Joint is projected to make her Top 50 debut in Monday's updated PIF WTA Rankings.
Breaking down the three-set thriller: It was the first career meeting between the two rising talents, World No. 51 Joint and 74th-ranked Eala. They had never even met in juniors, despite being less than a year apart in age.
In the first set, Eala battled back from 4-1 down to get back on serve at 5-4. But Joint closed out the one-set lead anyway, breaking serve after a deep service return forced an Eala error.
As gusty conditions picked up in the second set, it was Eala who stayed steadier as Joint's errors increased. Eala's lefty forehand also began to pick up steam as she leveled the match at one set apiece.
But this was all just a prelude to a dramatic third set, which saw both players go on miniature game-winning streaks. Eala took the first lead, winning her sixth game in a row to move ahead 2-0.
However, Joint's powerful service returns held sway in the next batch of games, and she broke the Filipina twice to move from a break down to a break up at 3-2.
Eala was two points away from victory at 5-4 and 6-5, but Joint held firm and never let her get to championship point as, inevitably, a tiebreak would prove to decide matters. And indeed, the most fireworks were saved for the breaker.
In the tiebreak, Eala saw a 5-2 lead slip back to 5-5, but another rally forehand winner gave the Filipina her first championship point at 6-5.
Big groundstrokes by Joint, though, gave her the next two points, and it was the Aussie teen who had her first championship point at 7-6. Once again, the Eala forehand found a winner and it was 7-7.
Three more Eala championship points came and went as Joint found well-timed combos of outrageous speed and power plays to keep her in the match. After forcing an error with a forehand, Joint had saved four match points and it was 10-10.
Eala then misfired wide with a backhand to give Joint her second championship point at 11-10. There, the contest concluded, with one last Joint backhand winner sealing an emotional match for both youngsters.
Bouzkova, Danilina win doubles title: Joint nearly won both titles on Saturday, but she fell just short in her second final of the day.
In the doubles final, Marie Bouzkova View Profile and Anna Danilina took down Joint and Hsieh Su-wei 6-4, 7-5 in 1 hour and 21 minutes. It is Bouzkova's sixth WTA doubles title, and Danilina's 10th.
