Rafael Nadal has been closely following Alexandra Eala`s impressive run at the Miami Open, a WTA 1000 event, highlighting her breakthrough performance.
Eala, a 19-year-old, has made history this week at Hard Rock Stadium, becoming the first Filipino player in the Open Era to secure four main-draw victories at a WTA 1000 tournament. Entering the Miami Open as a wild card, the world No. 140 began with a win against Katie Volynets of America, and then triumphed over No. 25 seed Jelena Ostapenko in a 7-6(2), 7-5 match.
She continued her winning streak with a dominant 6-4, 6-2 victory against Australian Open champion Madison Keys. However, her most significant achievement came on Wednesday when she shocked world No. 2 Iga Swiatek in straight sets. This victory makes her only the third teenage wild card in the past four decades to defeat a Top 2 ranked opponent.
The win against Ostapenko marked Eala as the first female player representing the Philippines to defeat a Top 30 player since the introduction of the PIF WTA Rankings in 1975, and also the first to beat a Top 10 player. She is the sole player from the Philippines, male or female, to hold a professional tennis world ranking.
Throughout the first week of the tournament, Nadal, her idol who retired from professional tennis last year, has been supporting the young star from a distance.
After her victory over Ostapenko, Nadal publicly celebrated Eala`s achievement with a message on X, formerly known as Twitter.
`Congratulations Alex! What a great win for you and for [the Philippines],` Nadal posted.
Eala, who like Nadal, is a left-handed player and uses Babolat racquets, has stated that her move to Mallorca at age 13 to train at Nadal`s academy was a turning point in her career. Her victory at the junior US Open three years ago further amplified her popularity in the Philippines, a nation of nearly 115 million people. Before Miami, she had over 126,000 followers on Instagram, gaining almost 30,000 more during her Miami Open performance, and has been featured on magazine covers such as Tater and Vogue in her region.
Despite her growing fame, Eala emphasizes that the lessons learned from Nadal have been crucial in maintaining her focus on improving her tennis skills.
`He is so grounded and he has achieved more than anything I could dream of,` she mentioned in an interview with Philippine broadcast network GMA, `and his continued kindness to everyone around him is truly admirable.`
