The Legacy of Alex Eala
Philippine sports has a new darling!
Alexandra “Alex” Eala has taken the country by storm, rewriting history for tennis in a country where the game has long been overshadowed by basketball and volleyball. Born on May 23, 2005, Eala quickly rose through the junior ranks, capturing international attention.
Her journey began at a very young age. Coming from an athletic family—her mother, Rizza Eala, was a national team swimmer and SEA games medalist; her uncle, Noli Eala, once served as a PBA Commissioner; her older brother, Miko, also played competitive tennis; and her grandfather, Bobby Maniego, was her first tennis coach—Eala was introduced to tennis at the age of four.
By age eight, she was already competing internationally, winning at the Little Mo tournament in the United States. Her impressive early performances eventually caught international attention, earning her a scholarship to the prestigious Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain. At 13 years old, she relocated to Mallorca to train full-time under world-class mentorship, a program that shaped her into one of the Philippines’ most accomplished and promising tennis players.
Her international career skyrocketed soon after. In 2020, at just 14 years old, Eala captured her first junior Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, winning the girls’ doubles crown with partner Priska Nugroho of Indonesia. She followed this up with another major doubles triumph at the 2021 French Open alongside Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia.
However, her defining junior achievement came in September 2022. At the US Open, Eala stormed through the girls’ singles draw without dropping a set, defeating Czech player Lucie Havlíčková in the final. The victory made her the first Filipino—male or female—to win a junior Grand Slam singles title, a groundbreaking moment that went far beyond tennis circles in the Philippines.
Eala turned professional at the mere age of 15. While balancing her academics and training in Spain, she steadily climbed the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings.
By 2025, her steady rise culminated in historic achievements. Last March, she stunned the tennis world with a remarkable run at the Miami Open, where she defeated former Grand Slam champions—including Madison Keys, Jelena Ostapenko, and even world No. 2 Iga Świątek—en route to the semifinals. The feat instantly placed her among the sport’s most promising young stars.
She also claimed her first WTA 125 title in Guadalajara, Mexico, adding another milestone to her already decorated résumé. Later, Eala etched her name further into the record books when she became the first Filipina to win a main-draw match at a Grand Slam in the professional era, advancing at the US Open. As of November 3, she has reached a career-high world ranking of No. 50, the highest ever for a Filipina tennis player.
Though still at the beginning of her professional career, Eala’s legacy is already being written. She is not only the face of Philippine tennis, but also a symbol of what young athletes from the country can achieve with talent, hard work, and support. Her victories are not simply wins, but they also represent progress for Philippine sports. Every time she steps onto the court, she carries the pride of a nation and the hope of young players who now see tennis as a real path. She is showing that Filipinos can stand on equal footing with the world’s best, breaking barriers that once seemed impenetrable.
