Philippine sports in 2022: Alex Eala continues journey to tennis stardom

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine tennis wunderkind Alex Eala continues to show flashes of brilliance in her young career as she figured in another successful year in 2022.

Highlighting Eala’s performance was a first-ever junior Grand Slam singles title in the US Open back in September.

Already a two-time champion in girls' doubles, Eala finally broke through in her singles career when she bested No. 2 seed Lucie Havlickova in the final of the 2022 US Open.

At 17, Eala etched her name in Philippine tennis lore and became the first-ever Filipino — male or female — to win a singles grand slam title.

But her victory in the Big Apple was hardly the only highlight of her year.

Eala also made her national team debut for the Philippines in the 31st Southeast Asian Games.

There, the youngster claimed three bronze medals in Vietnam — in singles, mixed doubles and team events.

The Rafa Nadal Academy scholar also claimed her second overall title in the pros prior to the SEA Games, ruling a 25K tournament in Chiang Rai, Thailand a month before.

In June, she reached the final of a 60K competition in Madrid but settled for a second place.

Eala also made appearances in not one but two WTA 1000 tournaments — competing in the qualifiers and the main draw of the Mardrid and Miami Open, respectively.

The 17-year-old is set to continue to reap the rewards of her successful year as early as she clinched a spot in the qualifiers of the women's tournament in the Australian Open.

This will be the first time that Eala, ranked No. 215 by the WTA, will see action in the seniors division of a grand slam.