Hardships to history: What made Alex Eala rise as tennis' newest giant-slaying sensation

MANILA, Philippines – Quite so often in the world of sports, the “diamond in the rough” narrative comes to light, as unheralded players erupt from seemingly random corners of the world and captivate nations’ imaginations for stretches of time with their exceptional, unexpected play.

For a little over a week to cap off the month of March, Alex Eala shone as that sparkling new gem in ways even she didn’t know she could shine, as she held the tennis world in the palm of her hand and smashed it as hard as she could.

Jelena Ostapenko. Madison Keys. Iga Swiatek.

All household names of the sport, the trio would eventually find out that one fateful week of March that they would have more in common than just all being Grand Slam champions.

They would all fall in straight sets to Eala, a teenager wildcard entry then ranked 140th in the world with only two prior wins in a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) main draw.

For a little over a week, Eala — without exaggeration — played like the best in the world, and as fate would have it, beat the best in the world.

But…how?

Just another player

Up until her WTA ranking rose a staggering 68 spots to world No. 72 as of publishing, the storylines surrounding Eala and her foes were all about the numbers. “World No. 140 Eala stuns World No. 2 Swiatek” was a popular, deservedly overused phrase by news outlets worldwide.

The gap between Eala and even the “weakest” of her foes leading to that fateful week of winning was always significant enough to warrant sustained discussion, painting the 19-year-old ace as the textbook David aiming for Goliath’s head with a godsent stone, or in this case, a tennis ball.

But, for Eala, the outside noise was deafening enough that all she heard was ringing silence. All she saw was just another player.

“I think a big part of being able to face these opponents is to treat them like they’re any other opponent, [and] strip them of all their decorations and all their achievements,” she told reporters in an online interview hosted by her longtime sponsors BPI and Globe last April 9.

“I did it like every other match. There’s nothing that I did, in particular, that was out of my routine. It was a little bit higher spirit for it, like all my other tournaments and all my other matches. So I have a routine and I stick to that.”

Never mind that Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion, former world No. 1 and current No. 2, was the one who helped present Eala’s diploma after finishing the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy.

On the court, Eala saw not a tennis god adorned in gold, but just another opponent, mortal and beatable.

“I keep seeing the videos and the reels of my reaction when I won against Iga, and I tried to look back at that moment specifically, and I can’t remember anything. Maybe until I like walked to the net. I can’t remember. I can’t remember looking up from the ball. I can’t. I can’t. It’s all very blurry,” she admitted.

“I think that that is a reflection of how just overwhelming and how shocking that moment was for me. I did show there was a lot of emotions, definitely, but I worked so hard and prepared so hard to block them out during the match that I think it took a while for them to come back after I found out that I won.”

“Now I think the emotions are just scattered everywhere, and it definitely hasn’t left yet.”

Hunter now hunted

Eala, however, understands that the mental game of tennis is more than just forcing to look at things in black and white. As her opponents now see red in her midst, she’s gearing herself up for even more serious competition befitting her current, lofty status moving forward.

“Well, there is definitely pressure because I was able to do well, but that’s also a good sign. In the end, I’m the same player as I was two months ago with a little bit more experience and a little bit more knowledge of what I’m capable of doing,” Eala continued.

“I understand that this is new for me. This is something I haven’t done before, being in the top hundred and being one of the seeded players, so it’s not simply because I’ve done it that I can do it again. That’s what I’m trying to work on is being able to continuously keep up this level.”

Indeed, the new life starts now for Eala as she has risen as the top-seeded player in the WTA 125 Oeiras Ladies Open in Portugal, her first tournament since her transformative Miami Open campaign.

Suddenly far gone from her days as an unnoticed, unseeded player, Eala is now the Goliath, the top target of other budding Davids and their lethal stones just waiting for a clear shot.

The challenges only get more complicated from here, but that’s not to say they haven’t been around her since the beginning.

Uniquely Filipino frustrations

Eala has been around the world, from the United States, to France, to India, and to Australia, among many other countries. But as high and mighty as she may have been in the past few weeks, she is no Pope who can travel wherever and whenever she pleases.

Unfortunately for Eala, any stratospheric rise in the WTA rankings, even up to world No. 1, will not spare her from the world No. 61 Philippine passport, which currently has a weaker status than much smaller nations like Eswatini, Nauru, Suriname, and Malawi.

“What’s challenging is being able to travel with flexibility. For me, I find the visas challenging, being able to plan, because as a tennis player, you need time to organize all of this every single time to have the visas ready. So that’s what I find challenging,” she lamented.

“On the flip side, the best thing about being a Filipino athlete, of course, is the support and the Pinoys, because you cannot find that kind of community anywhere else, and the love and the support this past month is a testament to that.”

True enough, Eala’s onsite fanbase rapidly grew amid her Miami Open giant-killing spree, as Filipino fans, Philippine passport holders most of them, made sure to hand the new beaming face of Philippine tennis the adoration she deserved, even after her Cinderella run was ended by world No. 4 Jessica Pagula.

“It’s not typical for me either to be that upbeat after a loss. But I was just at a point that I was so thankful,” Eala continued. “I lost, but I put up a good fight, and you look into the crowd and there were countless numbers of Filipino flags. We’re playing in Miami and playing against an American, but the stadium was full of Filipinos.”

“I just felt so, so supported and so loved. At that moment, you can’t help but to feel happy because it was such a big achievement. They know that it was such a big achievement. They were there to support me and I had someone to share the achievement with.”

Caloy. Hidilyn. Alex.

Over the past few years, Philippine sports has seen a surge of superstars immortalized as legends of the local scene. There is June Mar Fajardo and Justin Brownlee for basketball, Alyssa Valdez for volleyball, Carlos Yulo for gymnastics, and Hidilyn Diaz for weightlifting.

Now, there’s Alex Eala for tennis, a sport that has seen local icons few and far between and no world-class face despite the sincere efforts of those who paved the way.

With the power she now wields both on and off the court, Eala is making sure she does not rest on her laurels anytime soon, as she knows that what was so quickly given to her can just as easily be taken away, should she take her eyes off the proverbial and literal ball.

“I love tennis. I think tennis is a beautiful sport. So to see especially now that more and more Filipinos are picking up rackets and getting their kids into tennis, it’s really such a sight for sore eyes, especially growing up that, you know, tennis was very scarce. It wasn’t basketball or it wasn’t volleyball,” Eala said.

“I really like to think that I have this impact and especially now, the win that I did in Miami is getting more people to look into tennis and getting more people to love the sport as well.”

Still only at the twilight of her teenage years, Alex Eala is now quantifiably one of the world’s best in tennis, the sport she has worked hard in all her life — 16 years to be exact.

Just as it’s never too late to chase a dream, it’s also never too early to start believing. Frustrations, challenges and failures are all par for the course in the pursuit of passions, and one can either crumble under the pressure or come out shining and ready for more.

Eala may soon start losing again and fall down the ranks, or she could soar to bigger, more uncharted heights in her prosperous career. No one knows. Eventually, the clock always strikes 12 on Cinderella’s run, but the clock always moves on to another day. – Rappler.com