ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA shoots the moon and the stars, her feet still rooted in her roots.
Riding the waves of one game after another as the first Filipina tennis player, Ms. Eala is sure to remain passive and respect all those who came before him and flew the Philippine flag high and proud around the world.
One of them is Manny Pacquiao, eight-division world champion, Hall of Famer and national icon Ms. Eala considers him as one of the Filipino dreamers like him today.
“Yes, the type of national hero in sports in the Philippines is Manny Pacquiao. He is the first type of athlete in the world from the Philippines,” Mrs. Eala before her Round of 16 match against Italy’s Jasmine Paolini at Wimbledon, after ending the reign of defending queen and World No. 9, Poland 6 Iga-swe 6-2.
Mrs. Eala is aiming for another first in Philippine sports – a quarterfinal ticket to a Grand Slam – after becoming the first seeded Filipino player (No. 29) in any Slam ever to win a match in Wimbledon history, and the first player regardless of gender to reach the third and fourth rounds of a major.
And at this moment, he remembered his childhood during Mr. Pacquiao that would stop more than 7,000 islands. It wasn’t a holiday but it always looked like one war in all, resulting in the reduction of EDSA, the end of petty crime in Metro Manila and huge watch parties all over the country.
“He is a very inspiring person as an athlete,” added Ms. Eala, too, looks back on how he started playing tennis on a temporary, hard basketball court in this hoops-crazed country that doesn’t play tennis at all.
Although the Philippines was already the source of global icons such as Paeng Nepomuceno (bowling) and Efren “Bata” Reyes (buildings) in the past, Mr. Pacquiao including packed stadiums in every city around the world opened the era of Philippine sports.
Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, the country’s first Olympic gold medalist, gymnast Carlos Yulo, a double Olympic gold winner, and world pole vault champion EJ Obiena are among Ms. Eala mentioned about him, he also looked at him.
“There are too many people. I feel that Filipinos have such a good job. We are really working hard. If it is important, we can show up,” added Mrs. Eala, admitting that he is nothing compared to the one and only Pacman, who even became a senator for his ring activities alone, along with other dignitaries.
However, Mrs. Little does Eala know, he is on his way to that status at only 21 years old. Based on the WTA live rankings, she is already at No. 28 in a new career with a good chance to crack the Top 25 by advancing to the Last 8 of Wimbledon alongside the largest purse of his young career at £300,000 (P24.6 million)
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), in fact, held a viewing party on Monday at the PhilSports Arena with over 8,000 fans in partnership with MMDA, PHILTA, MediaQuest Holdings, Cignal, PLDT, Smart, MVP Sports Foundation and Pasig City LGU.
A preview party for that level of Philippine tennis, like Ms. How Eala inspired the country to host the WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open in Manila earlier this year and for the first time in history.
In court, Mrs. Eala has achieved countless feats that no Filipino – male or female – has ever done for the country. And slowly but surely, he does the same to it.
But the end of the dreams of Ms. Let’s pass those.
“It is an honor to be able to pave the way for young girls. It would be the honor of my life to be able to inspire others. Motivation is a very good thing,” highlighted Ms. Eala, now known as “the girl with torn socks, bright shoes and hard cheeks.”
“The big message here is that I don’t want them to look at me and say ‘I want to be the next Alex Eala.’ I want them to look at me and say ‘Wow. I want to be the first. I want to make my own way.’”
PSC and MMDA on Monday gave free popcorns to children and fans wearing green socks, bright shoes and firm cheeks during the party so that whether you like it or not, the next army of “Alex Ealas” is on the way and only time will tell when they will blossom like him one day.
But first things first and that is to continue his amazing run on the beautiful lawns of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. – John Bryan Ulanday
