Tennis Ace Alex Eala makes history as the first Filipino to win a junior Grand Slam singles title.
Alexandra “Alex” Eala has done her country proud and making history by becoming the first Filipino to win a junior Grand Slam singles title at the 2022 US Open after beating Czech Republic’s French Open girls champion Lucie Havlickova in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 in Flushing Meadows, New York.
Referring to Eala, the US Open website states, “The No. 10 seed has faced highly ranked opponents since the third round: eight seed Taylah Preston from Australia, followed by 14th-seed Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals, and ninth-seed Victoria Mboko from Canada in the semi-finals. But Eala blazed through all her competitors in straight sets–downing Mboko with an exclamatory tiebreak–before facing the No. 2 seed, Lucie Havlickova from the Czech Republic, in the final.
In an Instagram post, Rafa Nadal praises Eala, “Congratulations @alex.eala for this important moment in your career.
We are all very happy for you! Keep up the good work and attitude.” The Rafa Nadal Academy also offered their support with a post on Instagram: “WHAT 🇺🇸 A 🇺🇸 FEELING!
Congratulations, @alex.eala! ☺️ We are very proud of you at the @rafanadalacademy!”
The tennis champion says about her idol, Nadal: “He fights till the end,” she said. “His thoughts are so clear. He’s so calm, but at the same time, so fired up. I think I really tried to channel that energy during this whole week.”
Eala shares about her supportive family, “The key was to be surrounded by good people and people that I look up to, [to] guide me the right way. All of them are pretty involved from everything down to, like, what I wear, my schedule, yeah… I ask them for their opinion on almost everything.”
Eala is the daughter of Riza Maniego, former national swimmer. She is currently ranked 297 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). She played her first Florida Orange bowl junior tournament in 2021 and has become the first Filipina to win a WTA main draw after defeating Paula Ormachea at Cluj-Napoca last August, according to a report by Inquirer.
Banner photo via Instagram @alex.eala.
