Emotional Alexandra Eala credits family for rise up WTA tennis ranks

MIAMI – Alexandra Eala wrote her name in tennis history on March 23 when the 19-year-old Filipina

defeated Australian Open champion Madison Keys

6-4, 6-2 in the Miami Open third round.

She became the first woman from the Philippines to beat a top-10 opponent since the ranking system came into being 50 years ago.

The teenager has now toppled two Grand Slam champions, having beaten 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko in the second round.

It was a result that Eala celebrated with spontaneity and emotion, hugging her team while on the brink of tears. A little later, more composed but still struggling to comprehend her achievement, Eala tried to put it into context.

“It’s a big thing to take in, and I feel it’s important for me to take it in step by step. I’m so super proud of what I was able to accomplish, but it definitely fuels me more,” she said.

“I know and it’s in my mind that I have a next match, but I need to stop, and I need to recognise that what I did today was really amazing. I think my reaction on court, you know, sums up pretty much how I feel about it.”

Up next for the 140th-ranked Eala, who has not dropped a set in Miami, will be Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa.

When Eala was a 13-year-old girl growing up in the Philippines, her talent was evident and her family made the difficult decision to send her to Spain to Rafael Nadal’s academy in Mallorca.

There is no doubt that the access to the quality of coaching and facilities at the Spaniard’s school has helped Eala to grow into the 2022 US Open girls’ singles champion and now a real contender on the WTA Tour.

However, Eala knows that her road to the big stage began earlier than that move.

“The academy has been my home for the past seven years. Of course, my family should take credit for the foundation that they laid out before they sent me there.

“But, of course, the academy was able to build on that foundation in such a way that I’m able to be where I am now,” she said.

“And I think the combination of everything that I’ve been through since I started tennis is what has led to this moment and what has led to me having all these opportunities.”

Eala said it was a tough decision for her family to send her away to Europe at such a young age, although the fact that her brother Miko also signed up for the academy made it easier for her parents.

But, as close as Eala evidently is to her family, she said she knew it was the right move.

“It was definitely a big decision for me, for us. As soon as I heard that, I jumped at the opportunity because I knew that I had to get out of the country eventually to improve,” she added.

Eala gained her passion for the sport through playing with her grandfather who was a keen club player and coached her brother and cousins before turning his attention to the youngster.

“I was kind of the next in line to do that and to spend time with him. It eventually blossomed into the career I have now,” she said.

Her big win came the day after another Asian member of the academy, Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong, pulled off a stunning victory of his own in Miami, beating American 13th seed Ben Shelton 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 7-6 (7-5).

The two are good friends and Eale was delighted to see his victory less than 24 hours before her own triumph.

“I’m super happy for him and to see someone that I’ve known so long do so well is definitely an inspiration. Not just to me, but I feel in general a lot of people can take inspiration from him,” she said.

But while she hopes that her victory will provide hope and motivation for other young players from her homeland, there is an understandable reluctance at such a young age to become an instant role model.

“The young kids, the youth in the Philippines, they don’t need to take inspiration from me. They can take inspiration from anyone they want. You know, they can take inspiration from other things, which is what I did growing up,” she said.

In other action in Miami, former champion Iga Swiatek earned a 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 win over Belgian Elise Mertens that made the Polish second seed the first player to reach the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event in 25 consecutive appearances.

Swiatek built a seemingly comfortable 5-2 lead in the first set, but Mertens managed to claw back to 5-5 before the Pole ran away with the tiebreaker and breezed through the second frame.

“I’m happy that I got my level up in the tiebreaker to close it in two sets. Also in the second set I felt like I was playing good, big confidence. Yeah, overall I’m happy with the performance and how I worked through some issues,” said Swiatek.

Up next for Swiatek will be Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who beat Czech Karolina Muchova 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 and is looking to build on her run to the Indian Wells quarter-finals, where she lost to eventual champion Mirra Andreeva.

Russian Andreeva’s bid for a Sunshine Double ended in the loss to American Amanda Anisimova 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-3.

Anisimova will next face former US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who advanced after American McCartney Kessler retired due to a lower back injury while trailing the Briton 6-1, 3-0.

In men’s action, six-time champion Novak Djokovic moved into the fourth round with a 6-1, 7-6 (7-1) triumph over Argentinian lucky loser Camilo Ugo Carabelli that moved the Serbian fourth seed ahead of Nadal and into top spot on the all-time list of Masters 1000 match wins on 411.

Djokovic, who is also seeking a record seventh Miami title, will next face Lorenzo Musetti, after the Italian beat Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion said chasing the world No. 1 ranking is not his main objective any more, noting: “If it comes as a consequence of great results and titles that I win in a season, then that’s amazing. But that’s not my objective.

“My objective is to be able to play my best tennis at the Grand Slams and the tournaments where I participate.

“My schedule is revised so, obviously, I’m not chasing ranking points.” AFP, REUTERS