Rafael Nadal is closely following the performance of Alexandra Eala, a graduate of his tennis academy, during her breakthrough at the Miami Open WTA 1000 tournament.
Eala, 19, achieved a historic week for herself and the Philippines at Hard Rock Stadium with two victories, marking a significant moment for Filipino tennis. Receiving a wild card for the main draw, the world No. 140 player defeated American Katie Volynets in the first round and then overcame No. 25 seed Jelena Ostapenko with a score of 7-6(2), 7-5.
The victory against Ostapenko made Eala the first female player representing the Philippines to defeat a Top 30 player since the introduction of the PIF WTA Rankings in 1975. She is also the only player, male or female, from the Philippines currently holding a world ranking in professional tennis.
As Eala progressed through the first week of the tournament, Nadal, her idol who retired from tennis last year, has been supporting the young player from afar.
Following her win over Ostapenko, Nadal celebrated Eala`s achievement with a message on X, formerly Twitter.
`Congratulations Alex! What a great win for you and for [the Philippines],` Nadal wrote.
Eala, who like Nadal, is left-handed and uses Babolat racquets, has stated that moving to Mallorca to train at Nadal`s academy at the age of 13 was a transformative experience. When she made history again by winning the junior US Open three years ago, Eala`s popularity in the Philippines (a nation of nearly 115 million people) surged. She has already amassed over 126,000 followers on Instagram and has been featured on the covers of magazines such as Tater and Vogue in the region.
Amidst increasing fame, Eala has mentioned that the lessons she learned from Nadal have helped her remain focused on improving her game.
`He is so grounded and he has achieved more than anything I could dream of,` she once mentioned to Philippine broadcast network GMA, `and the fact that he is still so nice to everyone around here is very admirable from him.`
Eala is set to face Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the third round on Sunday.
