There's no need to rush Alex Eala, as the 20-year-old rising WTA star is always right where she needs to be, whether it's in Miami, Thailand, or deep in the heart of Manila.
Alex Eala is right where she needs to be.
Tennis is quite a unique sport, at least among those popular in the Philippine mainstream.
It’s a true individual game: not all titles count the same, there’s barely an offseason, and of course, there’s an “etiquette” to everything.
Tennis is also quite the unique sport for Filipinos, because as of right now the Philippines only has one singular player carrying the country’s hopes on the global stage: Alex Eala.
[RELATED: Alex Eala keeps 'special' Philippine Women's Open close to her heart]
While Eala downplayed a somewhat immature comparison to Manny Pacquiao during this year’s Australian Open, the thought isn’t too far-fetched.
For a time, Manny was the boxing superstar in our eyes.
Eala is not quite there yet, obviously. But in the same sense that Manny Pacquiao was to boxing for Filipinos, Alex Eala is to tennis.
That’s just how it goes.
As such, it’s quite a position for Alex Eala. She gets all the support, but the 20-year-old also gets all the noise.
We celebrate her wins because they are meaningful, but her losses don’t mean the end of the world each time.
Eala is supremely talented, yes, but she’s also not the world-beater many seem to think she is, especially with the pressure placed upon her shoulders.
Her impeccable rise on the WTA Tour is impressive and warrants heightened expectations, but it’s also barely been a year since she burst into the world’s top 100.
As magical as Alex’s Miami Open run was, her results since are perfectly normal for a player rising through the ranks.
In short, Alex Eala can still be inconsistent, but that’s how young players are.
Eala’s breakthrough 2025 season ended flat, as she suffered a string of early exits during the Asian Swing. But she then turned around and won a gold medal at the Southeast Asian Games.
It’s really just peaks and valleys.
Is it disappointing that Eala blew a one-set lead in the first round of the Australian Open after such a strong start to 2026? Sure. But that opened her path to the Philippine Women’s Open.
Is it anticlimactic that Eala was bounced early in her first-ever home tournament? Yes. But her rapid rise gave the Philippines an opportunity to host its first-ever WTA event, and Alex’s appearance may have made the 2026 edition the first of many.
So say what you will about Alex Eala: inconsistent, unable to serve, not actually a tennis phenom.
But Alex Eala actually is a hard worker, eloquent and mature beyond her age, and an outstanding ambassador for the sport of tennis.
She is also a youthful bundle of energy. Among the players ahead of Eala in the current WTA rankings, only about five are younger than the Filipina.
Being just 20 can be a weakness on the ruthless WTA Tour, but it is also a clear advantage.
When she’s ready, and she will be, Alex Eala’s time will come because she’ll always be right where she needs to be.
—
Paul Lintag is the online editor-in-chief of One Sports.
His previous stops include The Varsitarian at UST and ABS-CBN Sports, where he mainly covered the PBA, UAAP, and Gilas Pilipinas.