By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
More than just the end goal of winning a Grand Slam title, Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala also dreams of representing the country in one of the sports’ grandest stages: the Olympics.
“It is also something that I look forward to. Hopefully in 2028, I can represent the country in LA (Los Angeles),” Eala said during Tuesday’s online press conference hosted by BPI and Globe.
Like in the Grand Slams, earning a berth to the Olympics is based on individual rankings in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) during the 52-week qualifying window.
With Eala proving her growth after breaching the Top 100 of the WTA with her latest career-high ranking of No. 73, seeing her at Games in a few years is highly probable. After all, she has also donned the country’s colors at the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games, where she won multiple medals.
But maintaining or improving her performance is vital, and the 19-year-old rising star knows that following her impressive semifinal run at the Miami Open a few weeks back — a tournament that was rated just one rung below the Grand Slams.
“There’s always pressure after having a great run like at the Miami Open, but in the end, I’m just the same player but with a little bit of experience and knowledge of what I could do,” Eala said.
“It’s important not to dwell too much because in the end, it’s just one tournament. And in order to be great, you have to play and win more tournaments and more tournaments,” she added.
Eala has already assured of a spot in the main draw at the French Open slated next month, but for now, her focus is on improving on the things she had learned during her Miami Open run.
“I have to polish a lot of things: my serve needs work, my footwork needs to improve. It’s the details, and I take it step by step,” Eala said.
“Being where I am now is new territory for me, so I’ll try to navigate it first and just enjoy the bigger challenges awaiting me,” she added.
Eala plans to compete at the Oeiras Ladies Open in Portugal, a WTA125 event, on April 14 to 20, and the Mutua Madrid Open, a WTA1000 event similar to the Miami tourney, in Spain on April 22 to May 4.
