Alex in Wonderland

Not since the glory days of legend Felicisimo Ampon who reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 1952 and 1953 has there been a tennis player from the Philippines as mesmerizing as Alex Eala. Now that Eala has broken into the world top 100 women’s ratings at No. 75 after her incredible Miami Open run, Philippine tennis will never be the same again. Eala’s feat is in the books as the highest ranking of a Philippine tennis player, male or female, in the modern era dating back to 1975 or 50 years ago.

Ampon, who died in 1997 at 76, was a decorated star in his prime, ruling competitions here and abroad. In 1948, he was the Wimbledon plate champion and his string of victories included triumphs in Denmark, England, Wales, US, Belgium, Mexico, Sweden, India and Greece. Ampon, listed at 5-3 although maybe closer to 4-11, was once considered the best tennis player in the world, pound-for-pound. In singles, he went to the third round at Wimbledon and the fourth round in four US Opens.

Coming off a two-year suspension by the international federation, the Philippine Tennis Association is slowly recovering from a leadership crisis and Eala’s recent heroics will surely boost its drive to resuscitate the sport. The suspension was lifted in January 2024 and marked the country’s return to Davis Cup competition.

Eala’s remarkable surge at the Miami Open took oddsmakers totally by surprise. As a wildcard and virtual novice on the big stage, Eala displayed incredible poise, composure, guts and spirit in mowing down three Grand Slam champions on the way to the semifinals against World No. 4 Jessica Pegula. Eala, 19, wasn’t tipped to beat Pegula, 31. The difference in experience was like night and day. But Eala wasn’t tipped to defeat World No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the quarters either. Defying the odds, Eala broke Swiatek in eight games and frustrated the five-time Grand Slam titlist with deep groundstrokes. At one point of the match, Swiatek screamed back at her coach, “I’m trying” after getting an earful of instructions.

In the semis, Eala surged to a 5-2 lead in the first set and was a point away from clinching on her serve but back-to-back double faults led to Pegula surviving the ninth game. The set went to a tiebreak and Eala lost three points on her serve to crumble, 7-3. In the second set, Pegula zoomed to a 3-1 lead but Eala stormed back to take it, 7-5, breaking her thrice. The score was tied, 3-3, in the third set then Pegula swept the next three games to seal it, 6-3.

Eala once described tennis as a sport of opportunity. For seven years, she worked on her tennis at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain, dreaming of someday finding the opportunity, seizing it and bringing honor to her country. Her big break came in Miami. Now that she has opened the eyes of the world to her game, Eala will be a marked player and the top guns will be out to show her up. That only means Eala must continue to improve, develop her skills and set higher standards of play to move up, level by level.

Sky’s the limit for Eala and as she climbs the ladder of success, there will be bigger challenges, tougher tests and stiffer struggles. With what Eala showed in Miami, she’ll be up to the task and her emerging legion of fans, the world over, will be cheering her on.