By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Negrense tennis trailblazer Alex Eala and Olympic gymnastics champion Carlos Yulo will be honored as the 2025 Female and Male Athletes of the Year, respectively, at the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Annual Awards Night.
The country’s oldest sports media organization cited the pair’s landmark achievements on the international stage, which elevated Philippine sports and captured global attention throughout the year.
Eala and Yulo will headline the annual awards ceremony, now set for February 16 at the Diamond Hotel Manila, after its original February 2 schedule was moved due to unforeseen circumstances.
The dual recognition marks a rare moment in PSA history, with the last co-Athletes of the Year named in 2004, when boxing great Manny Pacquiao and golfer Jennifer Rosales shared the distinction.
At just 20 years old, Eala earned her first PSA Athlete of the Year honor after producing a breakthrough season that redefined Philippine tennis in the Open era.
A scholar of the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor, Spain, Eala became the first Filipina to break into the WTA Top 50, a historic milestone that underscored her rapid rise on the global stage.
Her ascent drew worldwide attention at the Miami Open, where she entered the WTA 1000 event as a wild card and delivered a stunning run.
Then ranked No. 140, Eala defeated former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, World’s No. 5 and reigning Australian Open titlist Madison Keys, and World’s No. 2 Iga Swiatek before bowing out in the semifinals to American Jessica Pegula.
She later became the first Filipino in the Open era to compete in the Wimbledon singles main draw, claimed the country’s first WTA singles title at the Guadalajara 125 Open in Mexico, and recorded a historic US Open main-draw victory by defeating 14th seed Clara Tauson.
Eala capped her remarkable year by winning the women’s singles gold medal at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, ending a 26-year gold medal drought for Philippine tennis.
Yulo, 25 years old, is a repeat PSA Athlete of the Year, having also received the honor in 2024.
Fresh off his historic double-gold medal performance at the Paris Olympics, the Manila-born gymnast sustained his dominance in 2025 by capturing a fourth straight floor exercise gold at the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in South Korea.
He also secured bronze medals in the parallel bars, vault and individual all-around events before adding to his medal haul at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Indonesia, where he won gold in the vault and bronze in the floor exercise.
“Their exemplary performances on the international stage and, more importantly, the way they have inspired countless young athletes to chase their own path for greatness, are enough reasons to crown both Alex and Carlos as the year’s top performers in sports,” PSA President Francis Ochoa said./ASC, WDJ