World No. 140 Alexandra Eala became almost the main headliner of the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami, having achieved several sensational victories in matches with top players and showing bright tennis 
The 19-year-old tennis player owes her opportunity to play at the Miami Open to her agency, IMG, which also owns the tournament in Miami. Therefore, the company usually provides a wild card to the main draw to some of its promising young players. This year, Alexandra Eala got that chance.
With her successful performance, the Filipina became the first wild card to defeat three Grand Slam champions in straight sets at a single WTA tournament. Eala also became the first Filipina in the Open Era to defeat a top-10 player and the first Filipina to debut in the top 100 in the history of the WTA rankings (since 1975).
“It was tough growing up. You didn’t have anyone around you to pave the way for you,” she says. “Of course, there were a lot of people I could look up to around the world, but my performance will hopefully take Philippine tennis to the next level.”
As the press notes, Alexandra Eala was born with athletic genes and financial resources. Her mother was one of the best swimmers in the Philippines (she won bronze at the 1985 South Asian Games), and later held one of the executive positions in a leading telecommunications company. Tennis player Noli Eala's uncle is the head of the Philippine Sports Commission, and before that he was a commissioner of the national association in perhaps the most important sport in the country – basketball. Alex's brother, Miko Eala, who is 3 years older than her, also plays tennis, but at the student level: he currently plays for the University of Pennsylvania in the NCAA North American Division. 
The future tennis star was introduced to the court by her grandfather, who loved to play at the local club. According to the athlete, her grandfather (lolo in Tagalog) taught tennis to all his grandchildren. One day, it was Alex’s turn. Tennis was a way for them to have fun as a family and get to know each other better.
“Lolo is a huge part of my life,” the athlete said. According to her, she owes her qualities such as discipline, respect and openness to her grandfather.
“I've spent so much time with him that he just always knows what I'm thinking.”
Having picked up a racket at the age of 4, Eala fell in love with the sport and never dreamed of any other profession.
“I never imagined myself doing anything other than tennis,” Alexandra says. “I saw myself getting better and better, and I saw that I always had the potential to succeed.”
At the age of 7, the Filipina trained 2-4 hours a day, and her real breakthrough came when she was 12. Then she won the prestigious junior tournament Les Petits As [held in Tarbes, France] among tennis players under 14. In that final, Alex defeated the talented Czech Linda Noskova (last year, Noskova debuted in the top 25 of the WTA rankings). 
This success of Alexandra Eali did not go unnoticed in tennis circles and she received an offer for a scholarship to the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca. Her older brother Miko was also able to continue his education and training there. According to Alex, having her older brother nearby made this decision easier for her parents.
“It was crazy. I won this championship in France in January and then the Academy contacted my parents. Before I knew it, I was in their dorm in September of that year. It was all so unexpected for me. I never thought I would move at 13, but my brother came with me, so that helped a lot. I think that move made me more professional and independent. It just took my game to a whole other level. I don’t know where I would be if I hadn’t gone there. It was such a huge turning point in my life and I’m so grateful because I was on scholarship for four years – like a regular school, but for tennis,” Eala recalls. 
Two years later, Eala will become the champion of the junior Australian Open in doubles and will reach the singles semi-finals of the junior Roland Garros. In the 2021 season, the Filipina will win another junior doubles title – at the French Open, and next year she will have her first singles trophy at the junior majors – at the US Open (she defeated the Czech Lucie Havlickova in the final). In 2022-2023, Alexandra won a number of bronze medals in all categories at the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games. In the semi-finals of the singles competition, Eala was defeated by the future champion of the 2024 Olympic Games, the Chinese Zheng Qinwen. 
Despite leaving home at age 13, Alexandra always enjoys the opportunity to represent the Philippines in international competitions. Her success in recent years at both junior majors and the Asian Games has earned her fame in the Philippines, and she has graced the covers of fashion magazines such as Vogue and Tatler in her home country.
“I was born and raised there,” she says, “but when I was growing up, there weren’t a lot of Filipinos in sports, except maybe Manny Pacquiao [the legendary boxer]. But in other international sports, I didn’t see enough representation. So it’s important to me that now that I’m getting better, they know where I come from. I’m very proud to be a Filipino, very proud of our culture, and I want to inspire young girls and young Filipinos in general to just go after their dreams, not necessarily tennis, not necessarily sports, but I just want to be a little inspiration for them.” 
Last year, the Filipina won all three matches against Ukrainian tennis players: Katarina Zavatska, Lesia Tsurenko and Yulia Starodubtseva. The victory over Tsurenko in Madrid was Eala's first in the main event of the WTA 1000 tournaments. And already this season, at the “thousand-dollar” tournament in Miami, Alexandra Eala defeated Katie Volynets, Jelena Ostapenko, Australian Open champion Madison Keys, beat Paula Badosa without a fight due to her opponent's refusal and the world's second racket Iga Swiatek. By the way, before the game with the Polish tennis player, a photo went viral on the Internet in which Alexandra received a diploma of a graduate of the Nadal Academy from the hands of Rafael and Iga Swiatek in June 2023.
In Miami, Eala stopped only in the semi-finals, losing in three sets to Jessica Pegula.
“I think every player has a vision of being successful,” says the Filipina. “That’s the goal, to be successful on the WTA Tour, to win Grand Slams. The overall goal is to win tournaments, to climb the rankings. I think this performance is a good step towards where I want to be. I’m the same person I was two weeks ago. It’s definitely a big step, but I can’t take it as a done deal. I just have to keep working hard and the results will come if I keep going down this path.”
Based on materials from nytimes.com; miamiopen.com; olympics.com
btu.org.ua