Despite going through a breakout year of her own accord, Alex Eala deemed one of her moments at the Rafa Nadal Academy as one of her highlights.
Alex Eala has had a year full of highlights, from her dream run to the semifinals at the Miami Open, to her first-ever SEA Games gold medal.
But among the biggest moments of her 2025 include something that’s a little more toned down yet still significant in her tennis career: being able to train first-hand with 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal in his own academy in Mallorca, Spain.
Despite graduating from Nadal’s tennis academy a few years ago, the 20-year-old only really had a chance to hit balls with Rafa this year, even if he was able to watch Eala’s training before.
Being able to share the court with such an icon, even if it was in practice, was beyond what Eala could’ve imagined — especially at her young age in tennis.
“It was so special for me. Obviously training with Rafa is something that people and young kids can only dream about so it was such a pleasure to share the court with him,” Eala said in a video posted by the Rafa Nadal Academy.
Cues from Rafa
While Eala has had the pleasure to go up against top-level players in her career, even coming up with wins against the likes of Iga Swiatek, and Madison Keys, while being doubles partners with Coco Gauff, there is still much to learn for the Filipina.
For Eala, it was a great opportunity that she was able to get tips from Nadal himself, who was keen on sharing his wisdom to his academy’s product.
“He gave me some tips on my forehand and a few other like small advice,” said Eala.
With the rest of Eala’s career still ahead of her, she knows that these little moments in between will help her push herself to continue to be better.
“This is the first time I've ever hit with him in my life and it's just a memory that will last forever,” she said.
Eala will turn up the action immediately at the turn of the New Year as she and Indonesia’s Janice Tjen were named as entries in the WTA 250 in Auckland, New Zealand on January 5 to 11.
[ALSO READ: Serving up history: Alex Eala piles up career milestones in smashing 2025 campaign]
Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.