Meet Dubai rising Filipina tennis star, crediting family for success
After a tough match in Dubai against Yuliya Hatouka of Belarus, Alexandra Eala was just back in her court position when an official from Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge introduced the young Filipina to this journalist.
The already tired Eala smiled in good company and even reached out for a handshake: "Hi, my name is Alexandra!" "Don’t tell me about yourself, you are famous now," the official quip.
Eala smiled again.
The 19-year-old has plenty to be happy about. She was the Philippines’ first Junior Grand Slam champion, only two years ago at the US Open.
Now ranked No155 in singles, Eala is the highest-ranked female tennis player in her country’s history. She’s also trained at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain for the last six years, and sometimes even high fives the Spanish champion at the gym.
But still Eala hasn’t tripped.
More than the encouragement of her hero Nadal, it’s her family ethos that has been responsible for her first success.
"I’m so proud of myself and lucky to have such a great family and team. I don’t think it’s a very big factor that makes a person from the Philippines be successful in tennis," she said.
"There’s nobody in the Philippines who has done that, especially in women’s tennis. So that’s all the credit I got, that and the fact that they raised me with these values, that’s what has sustained me up until now".
Her mother Rizza, a professional swimmer and bronze medallist in the 1985 South East Asian Games, was cheering on her from the stands at every point while she recovered from break point in the second set against Hatouka to reach the Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge quarter finals on Wednesday.
"My mum is there, yeah, my parents try to travel with me as much as possible and it’s all worth it," she said.
"I think for me personally especially as a Filipina, we value family so much. We are a very family-like type of thing you know, I am very lucky to have become a professional athlete because I know most people don’t have this kind of support from their parents and that’s why I just think I am very lucky".
Eala grin again, when pressed to explain how her popularity has brought more kids to the tennis courts in her home country.
"The big thing I think is that people are looking at the sport now. Basketball and volleyball are all the rage in the Philippines. So good to see them now with all these inspirations like Carlos Yulo (male gymnast and 2 gold medalists in the 2024 Paris Olympics) and (weightlifter) Hidilyn Diaz (gold medallist in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics). "It’s only the start and Filipinos can expand their mind with sports.
Eala is a young girl, but she also knows what kind of pressure she will have to accept if she can be more successful as a woman tennis player in Asia, where no major champions have come from.
"I mean I just think it’s a huge honour to have that support, and you know when people care about you I think that’s an indication," she said.
"You’re getting closer. It’s, at the end of the day, also a private thing, so it’s all about me and what I want to do and the only judgment that matters is mine and those that are very close to me."
At long last, Eala shared why she never skips Nadal.
"Because of course he’s THE HERO. I don’t know anybody in tennis for whom Rafa is not a hero," the left-handed Eala told me.
‘Just seeing him is intimidating at first, for everything he has done. But don’t get all that because he’s an amazing person very nice person very down to earth and yeah, he’s Rafa and seeing him in the gym everyday is great cause you guys got so much success but he’s still grinding!".
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