Filipina tennis star Alex Eala, at 19 years of age, shows an admirable mindset and attitude as she exited the Miami Open semifinals.
When Alex Eala competed in her first Asian Games back in 2023, the crowd was against her in Hangzhou, China.
It was the women's singles semifinals, and the the-world no. 190 was taking on then-world no. 23 Zheng Qinwen--the top seed.
The Chinese eventually went through--but not after surviving three sets, 6-1, 6(5)-7, 6-3.
"I think right now, things are a little bit overwhelming after the match. I think all the emotions are kinda... I'm trying to settle them, but I think overall it was a good match," she told One Sports with a neutral face right after the game.
"I think I performed really well, considering she's 20th in the world," Eala said as she was assured of her first Asian Games bronze medal.
The next day, the Filipina took home another bronze--this time in mixed doubles with Francis Alcantara.
But she was smiling now.
"...especially yesterday when everyone was cheering against me. It was a huge help to have this small group of people that I knew were there for me," Eala admitted. "It also inspired me to fight harder."
"And I know everyone at home is cheering for me, but it's nice to see it in person."
The pro level circuit is a rough one for Eala.
At the junior level, she found incredible success as the 2022 US Open singles champion. She also hoisted the trophy at the girls category for the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 French Open doubles.
At the pro level, it was much harder.
Three times in 2024, she reached the third and final round of the qualifiers to Grand Slams. Three times, she fell short.
Earlier this year, she was quick to exit the Australian Open qualifiers right at the first round.
But her tenacity was always there.
In July 2024, Eala picked up a W100 victory at the Open Araba en Femenino in Spain--her fifth ITA singles title.
Later that year, she absorbed early exit after early exit in WTA tournaments in China.
Still, she persevered.
"Growth doesn’t always come easy. Good news is there’s always next week to try again and come back stronger," wrote Eala on social media.
[ALSO READ: Alex Eala keeps growth mindset in tennis despite struggles, early exits]
That breakthrough came at the Miami Open, where the now-world no. 140 entered as a wildcard.
The 19-year-old then caught the tennis world by storm with her Cinderella run, taking down three former Grand Slam champions in Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and Iga Swiatek on her way to the semifinals. All without dropping a set.
The fairy tale run though ended at the hands of world no. 4 Jessica Pegula--but not without the Filipina forcing the American through three grueling sets, 6(3)-7, 7-5, 3-6.
"Of course, I’m disappointed," said Eala in a mixed zone interview with the Miami Open.
She rolled her ankle at the start of the second set and had to have it taped, before snatching the frame from Pegula.
"But there’s so many times in tennis where you have to dig out the dirt to look for the positive. And now I’m enjoying it because there’s so much positive around me and I don’t know how many times that has happened so I’m just lucky to have been able to experience these two weeks," she said.
And there's plenty of positives in that regard, as Eala is expected to break into the WTA top 100 next week--making it easier for her to enter the main draw of tournaments.
"The match I played was amazing and she played amazing. I definitely had my chances and I definitely have things that I could’ve done better but I literally gave everything I had as you see I’m taped up like a mummy."
On social media, Eala made sure to acknowledge the overwhelming support.
"A heartfelt thank you to everybody on here for all the love and sweet mesages that you guys have sent over the past few days. It will take time for me to get back to you all, but I want you guys to know I appreciate every single one of you," she wrote.
In the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games women's singles semifinals against no. 23 Qinwen Zheng, Eala felt it was her against the world in the loss.
In the 2025 Miami Open women's singles semifinals against no. 4 Jessica Pegula, Eala raised her hands to welcome the cheering Filipino crowd despite her exit.
She didn't have to dig too deep to find the positives in this one.
(With reports from Paolo del Rosario, Luisa Morales/One Sports)