Alex Eala: Pride of the Filipino nation

For more than a week last month, Filipinos savored with pride the brilliant performance of 19-year-old Alex Eala on the tennis courts of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

- ENDEAVOR SONNY COLOMA

Entering the World Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 event with a world ranking of no. 140 among women professionals, she went all the way to the semifinals before bowing out and earning the no. 75 rank.

This tournament is rated just a tier below the Grand Slam events of tennis, namely, Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open, and US Open, along with the WTA Finals and is so-called because the winner earns 1,000 WTA points. Alex is now poised to enter the main draw of the 2025 French Open starting May 25, two days after her 20th birthday.

Long after her last two opponents, world no. 2 Iga Swiatek and world no. 4 Jessica Pegula, walked off the court, Alex continued to draw sustained cheers from an affectionate audience.

"It was a rocky moment coming in here," she told tennis ace and sportscaster Dyan Castillejo, Diane noted that after breaking the service of Iga Swiatek five or six times during their quarterfinals match, Alex was evidently dictating the pace and outcome, winning in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5, against a formidable rival who was the world's no. 1 player from 2022 to mid-2024 before she was overtaken by Arina Sabalenko, the eventual winner of the 2025 Miami Open.