Alex Eala stays grounded despite waves of one feat after another

ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA is shooting for the moon and the stars, with her feet remaining rooted in her origins.

Riding on the waves of one feat after another as the first Filipina tennis superstar, Ms. Eala is making sure to stay grounded and pay homage to all those who have come before her and flew the Philippine flag all high and proud around the globe.

One of them is Manny Pacquiao, an eight-division world champion, a Hall of Famer and a national icon whom Ms. Eala considers as one of the trailblazers for Filipino dreamers like her today.

“Of course, the kind of national hero in sports in the Philippines is Manny Pacquiao. He is the kind of first global athletic figure from the Philippines,” beamed Ms. Eala ahead of her Round of 16 clash against Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in Wimbledon, after ending the reign of defending queen and world No. 3 Iga Swiatek of Poland via sweep, 7-6(9), 6-2.

Ms. Eala is aiming for another first for Philippine sports — a quarterfinal ticket in a Grand Slam — after already becoming the first Filipina seeded (No. 29) at any Slam ever and match winner in Wimbledon history, as well as the first player regardless of gender to reach the third and fourth rounds of a major.

And at this moment, she recalled her childhood during Mr. Pacquiao’s heydays that would put the more than 7,000 islands to a screeching halt. It was not a holiday but always seemed like one every fight, leading to a traffic-less EDSA, little to zero crime rate in Metro Manila and massive watch parties nationwide.

“He is someone super inspiring as an athlete,” added Ms. Eala, also looking back to how she started playing tennis in a makeshift, painted basketball hardcourts in this hoops-crazed nation not into tennis at all.

While the Philippines was already a source of global sport icons like Paeng Nepomuceno (bowling) and Efren “Bata” Reyes (billiards) in the past, Mr. Pacquiao’s phenomenal rise featuring packed arenas in every city around the globe gave birth to now the golden era of Philippine sports.

Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, the country’s first Olympic gold medalist, gymnast Carlos Yulo, a double Olympic gold winner, and pole vault world champion EJ Obiena are just among Ms. Eala mentioned, whom she also looks up to.

“There are so many people. I feel like the Filipinos have such a great work ethic. We are really hard workers. When it counts, we can show up,” added Ms. Eala, admitting that she’s still nothing comparable to the one and only Pacman, who even became a senator for his feats on the boxing ring alone, as well as the other greats.

Well, little does Ms. Eala know though, she’s on her way to that stature at only 21 years of age. Based on the WTA live rankings, she’s already at No. 28 for a new-career high with a pretty chance to crack the Top 25 by advancing to the Wimbledon’s Last 8 alongside the biggest purse of her young career with £300,000 (P24.6 million)

The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), in fact, hosted a watch party on Monday at the PhilSports Arena with more than 8,000 fans in partnership with the MMDA, PHILTA, MediaQuest Holdings, Cignal, PLDT, Smart, MVP Sports Foundation and Pasig City LGU.

It’s the first ever watch party of that magnitude for Philippine tennis, like how Ms. Eala inspired the country to host the WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open in Manila earlier this year as also the first time in history.

On court, Ms. Eala has already achieved countless milestones no Filipino — man or woman — has ever done for the country. And slowly but surely, she’s doing the same off it.

But the ultimate culmination of Ms. Eala’s dreams goes beyond those.

“It’s an honor to be able to pave the way for young girls. It would be the honor of my life to be able to inspire others. Inspiration is such a beautiful thing,” beamed Ms. Eala, now known as the “girl with ruffled socks, light-up shoes and chubby cheeks.”

“The main message here is that I don’t want them to look at me and say ‘I want to be the next Alex Eala.’ I want them to look at me and say ‘Wow. I want to be the first me. I want to make my own path.’”

The PSC and the MMDA on Monday handed out free popcorns for kids and fans clad in ruffled socks, light-up shoes and chubby cheeks during the watch party so whether she likes it or not though, a legion of next “Alex Ealas” are already in the making and only time can tell when they would bloom like her someday.

But first things first and that’s to continue her magical run on the elegant grass of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. — John Bryan Ulanday