AND the Filipino tennis star is back home.
Following her impressive grass-court campaign at Wimbledon, Alexandra “Alex” Eala on Sunday returned to the Philippines to a hero’s welcome as she is scheduled to stay briefly to meet fans before flying to the United States for the grueling tour.
“Is all this really for me?” happy Ms. Eala, who is now known as one of the best female tennis players in the world, arrived to a packed crowd as sent by the Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA) at the packed NAIA Terminal 3.
Ms Eala is from Europe, where she enjoyed a short holiday which included meeting Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny at his concert in Stockholm, Sweden, via Bangkok on Thai Airways after a stellar Round of 16 run at Wimbledon earlier this week.
Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Patrick “Pato” C. Gregorio, Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham “Bambol” N. Tolentino, and PHILTA Secretary-General John Rey M. Tiangco, also Navotas mayor, led the welcoming delegation.
Banda Kawayan Pilipinas was also present, hosting Ms. He taught special performances using their national instruments that matched his Philippine sports and cultural experiences.
Ms. Eala is in town to host three fan-meeting events organized by her sponsors this week to celebrate her achievements with Filipino fans. She will begin a short tour with Nike on Monday before BPI and Globe hold their Ms. Eala for the next two days.
The 21-year-old Filipina hit Philippine tennis’s first series: the first Filipina seeded player in the history of the Grand Slam (No. 29), who won the first Filipina match at Wimbledon and who was the first to reach the third and fourth rounds of the Grand Slam, respectively.
But Ms. Eala made her mark beyond Wimbledon, impressing on grass overall after winning her second career title in Birmingham and reaching the Berlin Final Four with an overall record of 12-4.
His turf streak included a win against No. 3 and former Polish champion Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and No. 8 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in Berlin with a total of seven wins against Top 10 players.
With all those features, Mrs. Eala is expected to reach a new career best of No. 28 in the WTA rankings this week after Wimbledon, which was won by Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, who rose from No. 32 ahead of the Slam on grass. His previous peak was at No. 29 earlier this year.
And he is determined to raise the world rankings even further when he switches his swing to the hard courts of North America leading up to the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season, on Aug. 30 to Sept. 13 in Flushing Meadows, New York.
Before that, Ms. Eala is expected to fine tune his bearings at the Cincinnati Open, Toronto Open, and National Bank Open in the United States and Canada.
But for now, he is determined to make the most of his short time at home with his friends, family, relatives and Pinoy fans who have always supported, followed and supported him in every city around the world. – John Bryan Ulanday
