Alex Eala tries to gather herself before an emotional speech. —AP
As Alex Eala puts behind the pain of what she said was one of the toughest losses of her career, Rafa Nadal has gone public to air his support and make it known of what he believes is coming for the hard-fighting pride of the Philippines.
“The first final of many finals, [Alex Eala],” Nadal wrote on X with an applause emoji, as the 22-time Grand Slam champ who recently retired praised the product of his academy who went down to Maya Joint of Australia, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(10), in the Lexus Eastbourne Open in the United Kingdom on Sunday morning in Manila.
READ: Alex Eala rises to career-high No. 56 in WTA rankings
Nadal posted the comment after Eala cried a river in accepting the second-place trophy before a packed gallery that stayed on its feet throughout her speech.
“Thank you everyone for the love,” Eala said. “This has to be one of the toughest losses of my early career, but I firmly believe that it’s these moments make you stronger and shape your character.”
As the first Filipino—man or woman—to reach a final of such a big event, the 20-year-old Eala will make another significant jump in the world rankings, to 56th from 74th when she started her Eastbourne campaign, where she went through qualifying.
Up next is a clash with defending Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova on Tuesday as what is probably the most hallowed tennis championship in the world gets off the ground.
“Though I’m so happy with the positive week, it’s full speed ahead to Wimbledon,” Eala said. “I have a date [on] center court.”
“Hopefully I forget about this one soon.”
Eala is no stranger to taking on—and beating—Grand Slam champions, like she did in the Miami Open, which, for all intents and purposes, was her breakthrough tournament after she bundled out one heavyweight after another.
Top-tier victims
Former world No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland was one of her victims there as she went on to play in the semifinals, where the dream run ended at the hands of Jessica Pegula of the United States in three sets.
Krejcikova is a two-time major champion, having also ruled the French Open in 2021.
But at 29 years old, Krejcikova could be vulnerable as she is reportedly coming into Wimbledon not in the best of health. She was forced to withdraw from the Eastbourne Open, which cleared the path for Eala’s semifinal opponent, Varvara Grachev.
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The Czech didn’t play the first five months of the year because of back issues, and cited a thigh injury as the reason for not playing Eastbourne. INQ
