A GRAND SLAM main draw qualification for the first time, another pro and title and an entry to the Top 100.
Alex Eala has locked her eyes on those goals for 2025 after a year marked by triumphs and heartbreaks, near hits and misses this season.
“No. 1 is to qualify for a grand slam main draw. That’s the first goal,” said Ms. Eala on the Power and Play radio program of his uncle Noli Eala over the weekend.
The 19-year-old Filipina sensation this year made it to the qualifying finals in the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open with hopes of being the first Filipina player ever in a Grand Slam main tournament.
But Ms. Eala succumbed to more seasoned and higher-ranked opponents to miss out on the golden opportunity.
Ms. Eala bowed to Julia Riera of Argentina, 6-4, 6(3)-7, 4-6, in the French Open finals, to New Zealand’s Lulu Sun, 6(3)-7, 5-7, in the Wimbledon finale and to Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the US Open qualifying championship.
“I do think that I passed a lot of milestones this year but there are definitely moments where I thought I was so close to achieving more but it just didn’t happen. It’s okay, at the end I’m very happy with how I performed and improved this year,” she added.
As for her two other inspirations, it’s only a matter of when next year owing to a steady rise in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and consistent showing in world tours.
“Ranking-wise, I’d like to get close to Top 100 and third, I’d like to win a title,” she beamed.
Ms. Eala is currently No. 148 in the WTA rankings, after starting from outside the Top 1000 in her 2020 debut, with five singles and three doubles titles to show.
She won her latest singles title in the W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain, where she also ruled the doubles division with partner Estelle Cascino from France.
That’s the first of three doubles crowns she all won this season after also reigning supreme in the W75 Croissy-Beauborg in France with Cascino and the W50 Pune in India with Latvia’s Darja Semenistaja. — John Bryan Ulanday
