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US Open: Nadal academy’s Eala lands a first for The Philippines
At 20, Alexandra Eala made history as the first Filipino to win a Grand Slam match in the Open Era at the US Open, fueled by community support.
Mumbai: At 13, Alexandra Eala uprooted her life in the Philippines and parachuted into the Spanish island of Mallorca carrying her tennis ambitions.
All through her teenage years, home for her was the Rafa Nadal Academy there. It’s a long time to be away from home and the people Eala calls her own, but it was all part of a long-term developmental project of a player who came from a Southeast Asian country with no tennis heritage or ecosystem.
Incidentally, when the most significant chapter thus far of that project arrived, a large group of Filipinos flocked to Flushing Meadows to add a distinct flavour to Eala’s moment of history.
“To be Filipino is something I take so much pride in,” an emotional Eala said on New York’s Grandstand court. “I don’t have a home tournament, so to be able to have this community at the US Open, I’m so grateful. They made me feel like I’m home.”
Thousands of miles from home, Eala scripted a wonderful first for her country at the US Open. The 20-year-old became the first player from the Philippines to win a Grand Slam main draw match in the Open Era. And it was no ordinary win. The world No.75 knocked out Denmark’s 14th seed Clara Tauson 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11) in a dramatic opening round in which she came back from 5-1 down in the third set.
This was no flash in the pan result. This is a project years in the making, which has had its best season yet with Eala claiming four wins against top 20 players this year.
In Miami in March, the left-handed player took down Australian Open champion Madison Keys, world No.10 Paula Badosa and Iga Swiatek en route to her semi-final run. A couple of tournaments prior to that, before she leapt to take on the world’s elite, Eala turned up in Mumbai for the WTA 125 event and crashed out in the second round.
She was then 19, six years into her stint at the Nadal academy that hadn’t yet given her these breakout results. Still, far from being desperate, Eala was patient, knowing well where she’d come from.
“In the Philippines, we don’t have a lot of professionals and it’s not a world you’re exposed to. There’s no set path there,” she told reporters in Mumbai. “So, for me it was really something I had to take step by step, and so many things that I and my family had to learn on our own.”
Eala’s mother was a professional swimmer and a South East Asian Games medallist. Eala took to tennis as a way to “bond” with her grandfather who played in a club. Her grandfather was also her coach till she was 10. At 12, when she won the U14 title at Les Petit, a prestigious junior tournament in France, she was spotted by the Nadal academy scouts and offered a scholarship.
At 13, a new base beckoned, which she still calls home. India’s Maaya Rajeshwaran also checked into the Nadal academy this year, and has had some hits with Eala.
“I have a lot of deep-rooted relationships with the people there,” said Eala. “It’s such a great opportunity to be there and to be exposed to that environment and facility.”
Plenty of time, effort and patience has gone into charting the development path of Eala, who became the junior US champion in 2022. There’s since been heightened spotlight on this promising pathbreaker from the Philippines.
“It’s such a big privilege to have this support and this, quote unquote, spotlight,” she said. “Especially the support that I get from home, from the Filipino people, is such a blessing. Because I know that not a lot of people in this ranking span are able to get that.”
Riding that support in New York, Eala delivered a memorable first for her country in Slam history.
