MANILA, Philippines – Tennis legend Rafael Nadal is one proud mentor to Alex Eala.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion lauded Eala after the Rafa Nadal Academy product advanced to the semifinals of the Miami Open, becoming the first Filipino player to go as far in a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 event.
And Eala did it in stunning fashion, beating a Grand Slam champion for the third straight time as she pulled off a 6-2, 7-5 shocker against former world No. 1 and current No. 2 Iga Swiatek.
“We are extremely proud of you, Alex,” Nadal wrote on X. “What an incredible tournament! Let’s keep dreaming!”
Eala, 19, had trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain, since she was 13 and graduated in June 2023.
The graduation ceremony featured Swiatek — then fresh from winning one of her four French Open crowns — as keynote speaker, so going up against her less than two years later was a stuff of dreams for Eala.
“It’s super surreal to think that the circumstances have changed, I’m facing her on court,” said Eala, who arranged her meeting with Swiatek after shocking reigning Australian Open queen Madison Keys and former French Open titlist Jelena Ostapenko, and taking a walkover win against world No. 11 Paula Badosa.
The win over Swiatek has propelled Eala to new heights as she cracked the top 100 of the WTA live rankings for the first time.
“From the very beginning, I knew that I had the level to stick with her. She’s very decorated. She’s achieved a lot and is someone I’ve looked up to for a while,” said Eala.
“It was a pleasure to share the court with her and to be able to compete with her and hang with her rhythm,” she added. “It’s something I’m very proud of.”
Up next for Eala is world No. 4 Jessica Pegula as they duke it out of a place in the finale on Thursday, March 27 (Friday, March 28, 8:30 am, Manila time). – Rappler.com
