By Macy Grace Clores
After winning the French Open, Alex Eala climbed to No. 2 in the world tennis tour junior rankings. Photo courtesy of Alex's Instagram account
Alexandra “Alex” Eala, is a fifteen-year old Filipina tennis prodigy who recently brought
excitement to the Philippine sports world.
Ever since she was five years old, she’s been training with her lolo, Roberto Maniego who’s a
big tennis enthusiast. The blood of an athlete runs through Alex’s veins. Alex’s mother, Rizza
Maniego-Eala is a bronze medalist in the women's 100m backstroke at the 1985 Southeast
Asian Games, her uncle Noli Eala is a former sports commentator and PBA commissioner,
while his brother Michael Eala plays tennis for the Pennsylvania State University.
Alex made her international debut at the age of eight, winning the Little Mo competition in
Dallas. With her continuous serves of aces in her young career, she managed to walk her way
to the 2018 Roland Garos Tournament qualifiers. Soon after, she caught the attention of the
Rafael Nadal Academy (RNA), a tennis academy in Mallorca Spain that combines sports and
education. She was granted a full scholarship.
After her Grand Slam games in 2020 and with her developing career, she ranked No.4 in the
junior tennis circuit.
The same year the tandem of Eala-Nugroho was established to go all the way to the
Australian Open Junior doubles 2020. The tandem made it to the finals that has been recorded as the fastest final match in the Australian open in 49 minutes.
Alex began 2021 as the world's No. 3 juniors player and won her first maiden women's title at the ITF Rafa Nadal Academy World Tennis Tour tournament.
In the future, she mentioned following the footsteps of her idol Li Na, the first Asian woman
who won the Grand Slam titles in 2014 and 2011.
“In 10 years, I’d like to play at a higher level, but I don’t want to jinx it,” she said in an
interview.
The Philippines is also hopeful for the future and success of the tennis ace in the making,
Alexa Eala.
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