Meet Alex Eala, the new Filipina tennis sensation

VICTORY FOR ALEX EALA| Filipina junior tennis player Alex Eala, 16, swept home-grown player Luksika Kumkhum in Thailand, on Sunday (Apil 10), thus bagging the International Tennis Federation W25 Chiang Rai title, her second professional title.

TWO-TIME ITF CHAMPION | The victory makes the Filipino tennis sensation a two-time International Tennis Federation (ITF) champion on the professional tour, after winning the W25 Chiang Rai title in Thailand on Sunday over home bet Luksika Kumkhum, 6-4, 6-2.

VICTORY | Her win over wildcard Kumkhum comes more than a year after her breakthrough ITF title victory in January 2021 at the first leg of the W15 Manacor tournament in Spain. The championship match between Eala, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) World No. 533, and 28-year-old Kumkhum, the WTA World No. 955, lasted for 1 hour and 22 minutes at Court 5 of the Chiang Rai Sports Center.

FINDING HER GAME AGAIN | Her real name is Alexandra Maniego Eala, born in Quezon City, a Manila suburb. Alex is turning 17 next month (born on on May 23, 2005). After struggling for months with health challenges, her energy shown in Thailand on Sunday shows the teen tennis champ has found her game again. Her latest victory takes an even greater significance against the backdrop of painful memory of major health issues she had to face.

YOUNG CHAMP | Alex Eala is a Rafa Nadal Academy student. On January 28, 2020, Alex Eala (then a 14-year-old player) defeated Julia Belgraver of France 6-0, 3-6, 6-1 and qualified for the third round of juniors at the 2020 Australian Open in Melbourne. Eala and Indonesian partner Priska Madelyn Nugroho then trounced French duo Aubane Droguet and Selena Janicijevic to qualify in the semi-finals. The 2020 Australian Open girls’ doubles champions only needed 32 minutes to end the match and advance to the Round of 16. Eala and Nugroho led 5-0 in the first set before the Indonesian scored an ace for a 1-0. They ended up bagging the 2020 Australian Open Girls' Doubles.

WORLD NO. 2 | On October 12, 2020, Alexandra “Alex" Eala leaped 2 spots higher in the standings to claim the World No. 2 spot in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Juniors Girls ranking. Eala has taken the No. 2 spot in the World Juniors tennis circuit after her historic run to the semi-finals of the 2020 Roland Garros French Open tournament. She was the first-ever Filipina semi-finalist in a junior Grand Slam tourney.

WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONSHIPS | On July 7, 2021, Alex Eala (right) and Priska Nugroho kicked off their Junior Wimbledon Championships campaign with a bang after tallying a 6–0, 6-0, 6-0, sweep against Erika Matsuda of Japan and Valencia Xu of the United States at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in their opening doubles match in London. The 2020 Australian Open girls’ doubles champions only needed 32 minutes to end the match and advance to the Round of 16. Eala and Nugroho led 5-0 in the first set before the Indonesian scored an ace for a 1-0.

BREAKTHROUGH, AFTER DIFFICULT PERIOD | Looking back at the previous year, she noted it was a difficult period, having battled a foot injury and survived the COVID-19. ”The last quarter of last year was tough for me. I had my foot injury which kept me out of the court for a couple of months and I got COVID towards the end of December,” she told Philippine media on Monday. 

MASTERY | Alex M. Eala kept her mastery of American Charlotte Owensby with a 6-2, 6-3 win to start the JA Plantation Orange Bowl junior championships at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center in Florida on December 9, 2021.

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES |On February 2, 2022, Alex M. Eala stunned Swiss favorite Joanne Zuger in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, to reach the Round of 16 of the W60 Grenoble in France. Eala fended off a late rally by Zuger, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) No. 264, in the opening frame before blitzing to a 5-0 lead in the second en route to her third straight win following a sweep of the qualifiers.

BUSY 2022 | It has been a busy early season for Eala. In March, Eala played her her fifth tournament of the year — and put on quite a show. She broke through another main draw competition, with an early winning streak in the W25 Joue les Tours in France.

BOUNCE BACK | “It was tough to bounce back and get my rhythm of competition, which is what I think makes this win so much more special.” She’s currently looking forward to the South-east Asian (SEA) Games, due next month, which will test her mettle as a team player. Eala said the upcoming SEA Games will further expfor an young athlete like her.

ASEAN GAMES | Eala looks forward to the upcoming 31st Southeast Asian Games in May. It will be her debut in the biennial regional sports competition to be hosted by Hanoi, Vietnam. But she has two more competitions before the SEA games. “I'm super excited to represent the country and to be with the team. It's been a while since I've played a team event. It's always different, the atmosphere there, very intense and fun," she said.