Article by Ella Mariano Graphics by Gibrianne Derequito
October 4, 2022
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡.
Alexandra “Alex” Maniego Eala, a 17-year-old Filipino tennis player and Grand Slam Junior champion, made waves for being the first Filipina to ever win in the US Open tournament in New York, as she defeated Lucie Havlickova on September 11, 2022.
Alex has been working to develop her play by competing in the pros for a year before going back to the juniors and having a flawless record of 6 straight wins.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Eala explained that she didn’t realize that she never dropped a single set while playing her matches. “I can’t allow myself to think of so many different things, especially external things. You know, it’s hard to be relaxed during the tournament.” Even after her win, she’s still taking in everything that has happened during the whole tournament and how her win could affect the thoughts of the Filipinos on the world of Tennis.
Being a Rafael Nadal Academy scholar, her foundation in the sport improved to huge heights and was continuously exposed to the sport, allowing her to play in the world’s biggest tournaments.
Being asked what’s next for her after her Grand Slam Junior success, there are no set plans for her next juniors’ tournament. However, Eala plans to stay in California for a month to go pro and go back to Europe for the last quarter of the year to get her rankings up in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). As of September 30, she was eliminated in the W60 tournament in California by Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa with a whopping 6-0, taking her to the quarter-finals.
The competition isn’t over for Eala as she has an upcoming tournament at the Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club from October 3 to 9.
References:
Clarito, A. I. (2022, September 28). Alex Eala, PH tennis stars resume pro circuit campaigns. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/.../alex-eala-tennis-stars.../
Dioquino, D. (2022, September 10). History for PH as Alex Eala captures US Open girls’ singles crown. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/.../final-results-alex-eala.../
Mina, R. (2022, September 30). Tennis: No. 7 seed ousts Alex Eala from W60 Templeton. Abs-cbn.com.https://news.abs-cbn.com/.../tennis-no-7-seed-ousts-alex...
Philippines, C. N. N. [cnnphilippines]. (2022, September 13). One-on-one with U.s. open Girls Singles Champion Alex Eala | sports desk. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLVAur-v5CI
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