The layman’s knowledge of Filipino sport doesn’t extend beyond Manny ‘PacMan’ Pacquiao.
The only eight-division world champ in boxing history held sway over Filipino sporting sentiment for decades, entering the political realm when he hung up his gloves. Rising WTA star Alexandre Eala is the first national sporting figure who can hold a candle to the icon’s popularity. The elegant Filipino created history yesterday, coming back from a set down to beat Jessica Pegula in the rain-interrupted final of this year’s Washington Open final. In so doing, she became the first Filipino woman to claim a WTA 500 title. Prior to the final, Jessica Pegula opined that Eala was the ‘future of the women’s game’. The Buffalo billionaire heiress was clearly onto something, as Eala bagled the industrious American in yesterday’s deciding set.
Not-so humble beginnings
Unlike the venerated ‘PacMan’, Alexandre Eala did not rise from extreme poverty. In fact, her origins share more familiarity with those of vanquished Washington foe Jessica Pegula. While not quite billionaire status, the Eala family is an esteemed tribe with tentacles reaching deep into the corporate and sporting worlds. Her mother, Rosemarie Maniego-Eala, served as the CFO of Globe Telecom until 2024. She was also an accomplished swimmer, winning bronze in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1985 Southeast Asian Games. Her brother Miko played collegiate tennis for Penn State while uncle Nilo served as a commissioner of the Philippine Basketball Association. Success, you could argue, was in her blood.
Paying homage
Eala was a prodigious little go-getter of a tennis brat, picking up the game at the age of four. Four! She was like the Tiger Woods of the Filipino tennis community. She would eventually join the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor, Spain, using that fertile breeding ground of tennis excellence to hone her baseline chops. And the Academy helped mould her into a female replica of their eponymous inspiration. She is a baseline-hugging workhorse with a potent, topspin-heavy forehand that looks to pummel the opposition into submission.
Small inroads
Eala made a minor name for herself at the lower levels while completing her ‘tuition’ at the Rafa Nadal Academy, winning several ITF events. Despite her lineage and training, it took some time for her to evolve into the player we see today. She started to hint at her ability during last year’s tour, finally getting through to the main draw at the slams while producing a glorious semifinal run at the WTA 1000 event in Miami. Her aggressive, hell-for-leather style really impressed in Miami. She showcased her penchant for slaying giants during that semifinal run, accounting for both Swiatek and Keys en route to becoming the first Filipino woman to reach a WTA 1000 semifinal. And it was just a harbinger of the giant-slaying to come.
Eala comes of age
The ‘Filipino with the Forehand’ (that’s all me) has really started to blossom during this year’s campaign. She showed her all-court potential during the grass-court swing, reaching a maiden WTA Final in Eastbourne before an impressive 4th round Wimbledon run. And all this hype was truly validated with her rousing victory over Pegula in the Washington final. Earlier on, I said that Eala shared certain striking similarities with Rafa Nadal. That also comes with a bit of negative baggage. Eala- much like early-era Nadal- doesn’t have a particularly potent serve by modern standards. But she looked far more deadly in Washington, winning 71% of her first-serve points in her semifinal victory over Osaka. That steadily improving serve has been an essential component behind her rise into the top 20 in the world.
Big-match aura
The question remains: can she translate all this positive juju into some meaningful Grand Slam result? I think that she can. Why? I think Eala is starting to develop the type of BMT usually reserved for Grand Slam contenders. She has won an incredible seven matches against top-ten opponents this season, accounting for the likes of Swiatek, Gauff and Pegula. She beat two top-ten players in Berlin and another two in Washington, showcasing an increasing capacity to sustain elite-level tennis. Assuming she continues at this trajectory, Eala could easily become the Philippines’ first post-Pacquiao sporting superstar (she is already well on her way).
