By Nikole Javier
Alex Eala has set her sights on joining the Women’s Tennis Association tour after her historic US Open juniors’ singles title in New York last Sunday, Sept 11.
With three juniors Grand Slam titles under her name—two of which were from the doubles category while the recent one coming from the singles—the 17-year-old is steadily climbing her way up in the women’s ranking that will allow her to qualify for the WTA tours.
“Hopefully, if I do well. But now, I’m just really working hard. And seeing how far I can go in the women’s rankings. A women’s Grand Slam is definitely on my radar. I wouldn’t say that I’m so far from getting to qualifying but that will of course depend on my performance over the next couple of months,” said Eala during a virtual press conference arranged by her main supporter Globe.
The Filipina ace is bracing for more challenges in the highest professional level of tennis as she is about to “play (against) much more experienced players.”
Aside from the WTA tournaments, Eala has not shied away when the opportunity to represent the country arises, citing the biggest sporting stage—the Olympics—as one of her goals to do just that.
After her third bronze finish in the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam earlier this year, the junior champion is open to compete once again for the country in Cambodia, this time, with a gold medal to take home.
“There hasn’t been any talk yet of (me joining) SEA Games so far. But I would definitely be open to joining the SEA Games again. I think that I have good chances of getting better results, but of course, my schedule is very flexible. It goes on a week-to-week basis. Well, I have to see. But no one’s reached out yet,” added Eala.
With developments made and more improvements to deliver, Eala is working on becoming a complete player which in her playbook includes technical, physical, and tactical growth.
“It's still not where I want it to be definitely. I think there’s a lot more room for improvement. But I’m already super proud of how far it’s come,” Eala said.