Alex Eala is thrilling the Philippines and the tennis world

The Philippines is not known for major international sporting achievements. There is multiple-time world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and the national basketball team, which stood on the World Championship podium in the 1950s. At the Summer Olympics, weightlifter Hildilyn Diaz and artistic gymnast Carlos Yulo just won the country’s first gold medals in Tokyo and Paris. A modest haul for a country with a population of 117 million.

This makes the striking increase in the number of Philippine flags at tennis stadiums in recent months all the more astonishing. No matter where Alexandra Eala plays, her fans are clearly visible in the stands—in Miami, Doha, Wimbledon, Paris, or, in recent days, in Washington, D.C. The 21-year-old is inspiring and has an entire country, including its many expatriates, cheering her on.

In the U.S. capital, Eala won the tournament—which offered $1.64 million in prize money—after impressive victories over Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, world No. 7 Elina Svitolina, Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, and top-seeded Jessica Pegula. “Thank you to all my fans, especially the Filipino community here in D.C., back home, and all over the world. Guys, I can feel all the love,” she said after winning the final on Monday.

Trained by Rafael Nadal

Of course, her personal success is what sparked this enthusiasm in the first place. Because tennis was only a niche sport in the Philippines, Eala moved to Spain at the age of 13, where she has been training ever since at Rafael Nadal’s academy in Mallorca. Her rise to prominence has been remarkably steady. At age 12, she won the famous U14 tournament “Les petits As”; at 14, she claimed her first victory at the professional level; and in the months that followed, she triumphed in the junior girls’ division at the U.S. Open and made her debut on the WTA Tour.

But Eala’s career really took off last year when, in Miami, she became the first Filipina to defeat a Top 30 player—Jelena Ostapenko—and broke into the top 100 of the world rankings. With every new success and every new national record, her stature in her home country has grown. She has since become particularly popular with tournament directors worldwide because she draws large crowds.

A crowd-pleaser all over the world

Mark Ein, the director of the WTA 500 tournament in Washington, D.C., told the assembled media last week how hard he and his team had worked to secure Eala’s first-ever appearance at the tournament—and how much that effort had paid off: “According to our ticket sales team, at least 80 percent of the inquiries we received about the event last month were about when Alex Eala would be playing.”

“When you look at the amazing female players here, it says a lot about Alex’s fan base. She is undoubtedly an icon—not just in the Philippines, but worldwide. There are Filipinos everywhere,” explained Mark Ein, who is also an entrepreneur in soccer, American football, and baseball. Eala can handle the increasing pressure and enjoys representing her country, as she assures us: “I’ve learned a lot over the past year.”

"The best version of myself"

In Monday’s final against local favorite Jessica Pegula, Alex Eala won the last seven games to secure a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory. The left-hander, who has already climbed to No. 20 in the world rankings, is known for her mental toughness and high intensity from the baseline. She doesn’t want to set a specific goal. Her primary focus is on constantly improving her game, she explained. Experts on the WTA Tour agree that Alex Eala has the most room for improvement on her serve.

There is also consensus regarding the potential of the rising star of the past two seasons. On hard courts, she’s arguably already among the best on the tour. That makes her a dark horse for the year’s final Grand Slam tournament, the U.S. Open at the end of the month. The new tennis idol takes the speculation, predictions, and hype surrounding her in stride: “Tennis is such a wonderful sport because it keeps you grounded in reality. You learn to lose because you lose almost every week. I’ve learned that there’s always someone better than you. So I just try to be the best version of myself.”