A two-time SEA Games gold medalist herself, women’s tennis head coach Denise Dy is happy to see a player like Alex Eala succeed.
NONTHABURI — Alex Eala is enjoying much success in her individual career as she reaches the gold medal match of women’s singles at the SEA Games 2025 at the National Tennis Development Center on Tuesday.
But even as she continues her meteoric rise in the WTA rankings and now on the cusp of SEA Games glory, she’s remains grounded enough to ensure that she keeps on improving on her mistakes.
Witness to Eala’s willingness to continue to improve herself is women’s tennis head coach Denise Dy.
After seeing the 20-year-old conquer home bet Thasaporn Naklo, she was thrilled at Eala’s willingness to bounce back from adversity.
“I think her opponent is a very experienced player. I think Alex definitely handled the center court very well. She had some resistance, especially in the second set,” Dy said after the match.
“I thought the Thai player, Naklo, did a very good job battling and trying to compete back. I think that's also what makes Alex great. She was able to not only respond very well, but close it out, which I think was very important for her.”
[RELATED: Alex Eala sweeps way to gold medal match of SEA Games 2025 tennis]
Growth mindset
Even as she continued to show that she was one of the world’s best in women’s tennis, Dy said that Eala is still focused on improving herself time and time again.
Whether the world no. 53 wins or losses, Dy has seen Eala work tirelessly to keep the pace and get things going in the right direction more consistently, especially in a sport as volatile as tennis.
“She's still young, so she obviously has a lot of success this past year. One thing I love about her, she just continues to think about growing and getting better and improving herself,” said Dy.
“I think that's what makes her a great champ too,” she added.
Eala gets back to action on Wednesday in mixed doubles before she competes for the gold against another home bet in Mananchaya Sawangkaew, who ousted second-seed Janice Tjen in their semifinal match via walkover after a 6-4 win in the opening set.
[RELATED: Indonesia’s Janice Tjen retires in stunning SEA Games semis loss due to breathing issue]
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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.