Alexandra Eala reveals her grandfather encouraged her to play tennis so she could secure a scholarship at American colleges, and that included focusing on hard courts because her grandpa figured out that would be the key to making it out of the Philippines.
Eala, who celebrated her 20th birthday in May, made all the headlines in March when she as a wildcard reached the semifinal of the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami. Across 10 days in South Florida, the Filipina - who was ranked No. 140 at the time - defeated three Grand Slam champions - Iga Swiatek, Madison Keys and Jelena Ostapenko. Also, she had a very notable win over this year's Australian Open semifinalist Paula Badosa.
However, even before Eala's sensational Miami run, she was known and regarded as a big talent since she won the 2022 US Open girls' singles title and also graduated from Rafael Nadal's Tennis Academy in 2023.
Eala: My grandfather was thinking about the bigger picture
My grandfather was thinking about the bigger picture, and he was thinking: There's no shell courts outside of the Philippines. If we want to compete abroad, we're going to have to learn on hard courts," the 20-year-old told the Town & Country magazine.
Eala's talent was eventually recognized by none other than Nadal's academy and she received a scholarship there.
He was one of those tough love coachesbut I think thats a big part of my mental strength and how I carry myself on court now. It all goes back to the foundation of things, and how I was brought up;" the current world No. 70 said of her grandfather.
When Eala made the Miami semifinal and broke into the top-100, she became the first Filipina woman to reach a WTA 1000 semifinal and get inside the top-100.
In the same interview with Town & Country, the 22-year-old revealed that she is "taking it week-by-week" now, but reaching the world No.1 spot remains her ultimate goal.
