Banner photo: WTA
Vamos, Alex! With her winning streak at the Miami Open, the Rafa Nadal protégé — and a rising star in women’s tennis — proudly waves the Filipino flag and carves out her place in the history of competitive tennis.
Wild card Alexandra “Alex” Maniego Eala makes history as she stunned five-time Grand Slam champion and world no. 2 Iga Świątek in the Miami Open quarterfinals. Her Miami Open wins pushed her Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rank from 140 to 75, making her the first Filipino to break into the WTA 100.
For Alex, besting her idol at the Miami Open quarterfinals was both a momentous and bittersweet experience.
In an interview with Reuters, Alex revealed that she first met Świątek, when the latter was the commencement speaker during her graduation ceremony at the Rafa Nadal Academy in June 2023.
“I thought I was super lucky to have her during my graduation. She just came off I think a Grand Slam win also, Roland Garros, if I remember correctly. Then she even did the whole ceremony with the class, tossed the hat, and I was so lucky because I was beside her. It’s super surreal to think that the circumstances have changed, I’m facing her on court,” she added.
A trailblazing tennis star is born
Eala’s grandfather loved tennis and introduced all his grandchildren to the sport. In a PeopleAsia article from September 2022, Ma. Angelica Demegillo wrote that Alex, born and raised in the Philippines, is the daughter of former national swimmer Rizza Maniego-Eala and Michael Francis Eala. Her brother Michael Francis Eala is also a professional tennis player.
At 13, She joined the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca as a scholar after having won the prestigious Le Petits As, a junior tennis tournament in France for players aged 12 to 14.
She first made a mark at the 2022 US Open Girls Singles tournament where she won junior Grand Slam, where the then 17-year-old defeated Lucie Havlickova of the Czech Republic in the finals. Prior to Alex Eala’s historic first grand slam win, she also defeated Canadian Victoria Mboko in the semifinals and Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals.– by Anne Stephanie Nilo
