Twelve months ago, an 18-year-old Alexandra Eala was ranked 170 in the world.
Competing in the Madrid Open courtesy of a wildcard, the Filipina teenager notched the first WTA 1000 main draw victory of her career by upsetting world No 41 Lesia Tsurenko. She fell to a 30th-ranked Sorana Cirstea in three sets in the second round.
This week, Eala is back on Spanish clay but in a far different position to where she was a year ago. The former US Open junior champion has rocketed up the rankings to a career-high 72 in the world, thanks to a breakthrough run at the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami last month.
The talented lefty knocked out three grand slam champions – including five-time major winner Iga Swiatek – en route to the semi-finals, becoming the first Filipina in history to reach the last-four at a WTA tour-level event.
Her historic achievement made headlines across the globe and her star status continues to grow exponentially back home in the Philippines.
“I think a lot of external factors have changed. More eyes on me, I guess, there’s more exposure,” Eala told reporters in Madrid on Tuesday following her opening round victory over Viktoriya Tomova.
“But in the day-to-day and how I feel internally, nothing has changed much because the work ethic has always been there, my team has been so down to earth, keeping me grounded and reminding me what’s important to focus on right now.”
The key focus post-Miami was to realise the importance of moving on. The travelling circus that is the tennis tour is never-ending and unrelenting and Eala is acutely aware that she can’t coast on one good result in a sport that tests its athletes every single week.
“I try to think moving forward, definitely. What’s good now is I have a lot of opportunities with the new ranking to get into the bigger tournaments. It makes things exciting. There’s new experiences that lie ahead. I try not to think so much on Miami because it’s a lot. I have those memories and I’ll keep them forever,” said the 19-year-old.
Such is the speediness of the pace of the WTA tour that Eala has a rematch with Swiatek in Madrid on Thursday, barely four weeks on from their Miami quarter-final clash.
“I’m super excited to play Iga. With the different conditions, to be on clay, it will be a whole different story. It’s always a pleasure to share the court with such a great player and a nice person. We’ll see how that unfolds,” said Eala.
Many people reached out to Eala since Miami, including former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, who congratulated her and told her she was there if she ever needed anything.
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