Philippine tennis sensation Alex Eala is set to play her first-ever Grand Slam main draw on Sunday at the French Open.
Alex Eala reflected on her tennis journey from a dreamer in the Philippines to her impending Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros, where she faces Emiliana Arango in the first round on Sunday just days after turning 20.
Having been based abroad since joining the Rafa Nadal Academy in 2018, Eala has been on a steady rise in the world of tennis.
But nothing could have prepared the youthful Eala for her fairy tale run at the Miami Open earlier this year which propelled her to international stardom, and more importantly, into the Top 75 of the WTA rankings.
After reaching the semifinals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami, Eala was sure to get more opportunities in her career.
And the biggest of them so far comes with the French Open, finally set to see action in the main draw after she previously fell short of Grand Slam tournaments via qualifiers.
In an interview with RNA, Eala spoke about how the journey helped her grow, not just as a tennis player but also as a person.
“I was so excited to come to Spain and to get out and to see, to broaden my horizons. And I think I met so many people here, made so many friends, and living together definitely made us closer. So it was a great experience overall, not just for a tennis player, but for a young kid,” said Eala.
Among Eala's experiences at Nadal's school was her graduation encounter with Iga Swiatek, which foreshadowed their eventual clash this year, having already faced each other twice.
At that time, Eala said that it was already something amazing to be around stars like Swiatek, and of course, Nadal. But now that she’s trying to get used to the level of elite tennis in her competition, she treasures it even more.
“We were super lucky to have Iga as our celebrity guest, and to have Iga there and Rafa was really nice because it’s meant to inspire us. It was a dream,” she said.
“And now that I look back, it’s an amazing experience. And it’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life, because it’s the first of a lot of things,” Eala added.
As another historic moment looms, the 20-year-old remembered the all-important support from her compatriots as well, which she thoroughly enjoyed in Miami.
Now that she’s gearing up for her latest milestone, Eala hopes to share it with her fellow Filipinos anew.
[READ: Who is Emiliana Arango? Alex Eala set to make history at French Open vs former nemesis]
“I’m not normally like that after a loss, I’ll tell you. But at that moment, I was just so grateful and I was so proud that I was able to reach the semifinals, beating three Grand Slam winners,” said Eala, speaking of her semifinals loss to Jessica Pegula in Miami.
“And when you look up at the crowd, there were so many Filipinos. And it made me so happy to be able to share that experience with them.”