Alex Eala is making the history of tennis for the Philippines. For her, this is the easy part

MIAMI – The records follow. Sift the score sheets from games in recent months around the world, in Trnava, Slovakia or Bengaluru, India or Takasaki, in Japan.

In addition to five consecutive victories in January in a minor canberra tournament in Australia, there is little to suggest the immediacy of what was a week of breakout for Alexandra Eala. Yet here he has to face Iga Swiatekthe most ruthlessly dominant female player of the last three years, in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open – A WTA 1,000 event, just below the level of a Grand Slam.

Eala, 19 years old, is in a place that no player from the Philippines has ever been. It is not surprising that his parents are flying for the game.

The pioneer, however, could be the simplest thing for Eala to face. He made a land for tennis in his country – a archipelago of 7,641 islands and over 110 million people – for some time.

Eala was the first to win the Les Petits such as, the main international tournament for children aged 12 and 14. It was the first to win a junior Grand SlamAt 2022 US Open. It is the first to get to the top 100 cusp.

“He prepared me to take it, step by step,” Eala said during an interview under the Hard Rock stadium on Monday evening.

A few minutes earlier, Eala had heard the news that Paula Badosa had retired from their round of 16 with a back injury. He had to understand if he would have seen Swiatek play Elina Switight later in the evening.

He was on the fence. It was the second game of the evening session and probably would end after midnight. Maybe getting a little rest could serve it better. He had never done this kind of things before.

“Many new experiences,” he said.

Eala started her stay in Miami with a solid victory over American Katie Volynets, a scrambler with a direct elimination punch to direct elimination when it needs it. Then he eliminated the Mercurial 2017 French Open Champion, Jelena Ostapeko, in two narrow sets. This was his first victory over a top-30 player. It was also the first victory over a top-30 player for a Filipino player since the WTA rankings were published for the first time in 1975.

Then he supported it from Beat Madison Keys, the Australian Australian Champion and the world n. 5, 6-4, 6-2. Two wins in Top 30 and one victory among the top 5 for Eala; The same for the Philippines.

Keys makes her home in Florida and hits something close to the largest ball of female tennis. His right was too big for the Male player Top-10 Casper Ruud to manage sometimes during a mixed-doppy exhibition before the BNP Paribas opened at Indian Wells, California.

Eala used her legs to put her feet behind the blows of keys. He absorbed the power, targeted the lines and sent the keys to flee in the style of myrrh Andreeva, Another teenager who has overturned the largest and most powerful enemies lately.

“I knew he was a great player, I knew he was a great batter,” Eala said after the game. “I had to keep my legs on and seize the opportunities I was able to find.”

Eala owes this open opportunity by Miami to one of the oddities of his sport – the Entry for Jollywhich allows tournaments owners to give a handful of points to each event to the players who otherwise should participate in a qualifying competition, if they can even qualify for this.

IMG, the conglomerate of sport and entertainment, has Miami Open and represents Eala. The company usually assigns places in the main tie of the tournament to some of its promising young players. This year Eala got one of the gold tickets.

But then he actually had to do something with it, just like he did first. She was born with athletic genes and financial resources. Her mother was a better swimmer in the Philippines and a manager with one of the main telecommunications companies. There are many children born with that type of pedigree. Few of them have the opportunity to become one of the best tennis such as Eala now, especially in a country where basketball governs the sports pose that.

He won several medals from Asian games, earning bronze in 2023 after losing in the semifinal to Zheng Qinwen, who would win gold at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Alexandra Eala celebrates her bronze medal in the women’s singles at the Asian games of 2023. (Jia Haocheng / Xinhua via Sipa USA)

“Growing up, it was difficult,” Eala said after beating the keys. “You had nobody from where you come to open the road. Of course, you had many people to look around all over the world, but I hope this will bring Filipino tennis to the next step.”

It was his family who brought her to the field. Eala’s grandfather, a tennis enthusiast, introduced all his grandchildren in sport in his local club. Alexandra and his older brother, Miko, who went to play Pennsylvania State University, brought him more.

“I have never seen myself doing anything else that was not tennis,” said Eala. “I saw while I grew that I was improving better and better and I saw that I always had the potential to do it.”

The first suggestion came when he was 12, with the victory at Les Petits as. He earned her a scholarship at Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain. Her brother also got a place, which helped her adapt to leave her parents at 13 years of age to live in a dormitory on the other side of the world.

“Being there in a scholarship was something I wasn’t thinking about at all,” he said. “I knew this is what I wanted to do, so it was a good step to become a professional.”

Nadal published her congratulations to you on social media last week.

Even after winning the Junior Us Open title, however, Eala knew he had a long way to go.

Things can quickly change in a tennis player’s career. Sometimes, the door will open and a new big thing rushes through it, but Eala has pushed back against any type of radical transformation in progress. He knows that there are few sensations during the night these days. Andreeva is the youngest player among the first 100 and has only another teenager for the company, Australia Maya joint. Eala, at n. 102 In the live rankings thanks to his run Miami, he hopes to join them soon.

“I’m the same person I was two weeks ago,” he said. “It is certainly a big step, but I can’t suppose that it is consolidated. I just have to keep my head low, continue working and they will arrive if I continue on this path.”

The route suddenly became much more fun, which is very important, but not entirely the point, especially with Swiatek on the horizon. He has already seen his first floor: the five -time champion of the Grand Slam was a guest of honor when Eala graduated from the Nadal’s Academy. Now it is a rival like everything else, in an unknown territory for Eala.

“I’ve never been to a big tournament so long, so I’m definitely having fun,” he said. “But I’m still hungry and I’m still motivated.”

(Photo above: Robert Prange / Getty Images)