Filipino tennis sensation Alexandra “Alex” Eala continues to turn her lifelong dream into reality, setting her sights on becoming World No. 1 while making history on some of the sport’s biggest stages.
The 20-year-old from Quezon City, who began training on a small hard court with her grandfather before moving to the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain at 13, has always been vocal about her ambitions. “World No. 1 and Grand Slam victories are my ultimate goals,” she has said—an aspiration that now feels within reach after a string of historic achievements in 2025.
Eala first captured global attention in 2022 when she became the first Filipino to win a junior Grand Slam singles title at the US Open. Since then, she has steadily built her reputation on the WTA Tour, with her breakthrough coming at the 2025 Miami Open, where she stunned former Grand Slam champions Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys before upsetting world No. 2 Iga Świątek. That run propelled her into the semifinals and secured her a place in the WTA top 100.
Her momentum carried into the Eastbourne Open in June, where she became the first Filipino—and the first Southeast Asian since 2010—to reach a WTA singles final. Though she fell short of the title, the milestone reaffirmed her status as one of the tour’s brightest young stars.
The defining moment of her season so far came at the US Open this August. Facing 14th seed Clara Tauson in the first round, Eala mounted an astonishing comeback from 5–1 down in the deciding set, saving multiple match points before clinching victory in a nail-biting 13–11 tiebreak. With that, she became the first Filipino ever to win a main-draw Grand Slam singles match in the Open Era.
Although her campaign ended in the second round against Spain’s Cristina Bucsa, the achievement brought both prestige and financial reward. Eala’s prize money jumped from a guaranteed US $110,000 to US $154,000 (around ₱8.7 million), marking the second-largest payout of her career after the US $332,000 she earned at the Miami Open. The victory also gave her 70 WTA ranking points, lifting her to world No. 69 and securing more direct entries into future major tournaments.
According to Gulf News, Eala has already earned nearly US $600,000 in 2025 alone, pushing her career prize money past the US $1 million mark. Her first-round appearance at Wimbledon earlier this year added another US $88,000 to her growing total, underscoring her steady rise among the sport’s top earners.
For Eala, however, the numbers and rankings tell only part of the story. “It makes what I do bigger than myself,” she reflected. “I take so much pride in representing my country.”
Coaches at the Rafa Nadal Academy, including Toni Nadal, have praised her work ethic and mental toughness—qualities that have helped her overcome setbacks and thrive under pressure. Tennis analysts note that her balance of discipline and ambition makes her one of the most exciting young players to watch.
From her early days in Quezon City to the bright lights of New York, Alexandra Eala has proven that her goals are more than just lofty dreams. With each historic victory, she moves closer to cementing her place among the world’s best—and carrying the hopes of Filipino tennis fans with her every step of the way.
