One year can change everything.
For Alex Eala, it meant climbing from No. 75 to a career-high No. 18, breaking barriers no Filipino tennis player had reached before and giving Filipinos another sporting hero to rally behind.
Eala looked back on her whirlwind year during her appearance on CBS Mornings on Tuesday, Sept. 8, reflecting on a journey that has taken her from watching tennis’ biggest stars on television to sharing the Grand Slam stage with them.
“Being around these amazing peers that I have and sharing the stage with people I’ve looked up to, even Coco [Gauff], even though she’s just a year older than me, I grew up alongside her kind of watching her on TV,” Eala said.
And of course Venus [Williams] being a legend, to be able to share the stage with these people is amazing,” she added.
Eala improved on her result in the final Grand Slam of the season from last year, advancing to the third round before narrowly missing out to American Iva Jovic in three sets.
Despite the exit, Eala said the experience she has gained has changed how she approaches the biggest moments of her career.
“Now when I face high-pressure situations, I’m able to take it in my stride,” Eala said. “And especially with the experience I’ve been gaining this year, I look forward to being in those situations.”
The biggest stages in tennis have also given her a platform to inspire young athletes who may now be watching her the way she once watched her own heroes.
I just hope that whatever I do and the job that I have and my day to day work inspires other people and inspires the youth especially to chase their dreams,” Eala said.
“I’m in New York. I’m competing in the US Open. I’m from Manila and a dream is only a dream until it becomes a reality,” she said.
Eala now hopes to represent the country in the 2026 Asian Games where she will once again wear the Philippine colors after a year that transformed her from a young star watching her heroes into one of the country’s own.