ALEX EALA, the young pretty darling of Philippine tennis today, reached a milestone in 2022 when she captured the 142nd US Open juniors girls’ singles championship at Flushing Meadows in New York City.
The 17-year-old Eala didn’t drop a set in her 6-2, 6-4 domination of third seed Czech Lucie Havlickova in the final at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
It was truly one memorable ride for Eala, who went down in history as the first ever Filipino player to bag a junior singles grand slam crown.
In a scene that truly warmed the heart, Eala proudly spoke in Filipino for the entire world to hear while shedding tears of joy during her acceptance speech.
A student of the Rafael Nadal Academy, the 5-foot-9 stunner already owns two grand slam titles in the past, but in doubles of the 2019 Australian Open and the 2021 French Open.
Her breakthrough feat and achieving history at such a young age made Eala the perfect choice for the President’s Award in the San Miguel Corp.-Philippine Sportswriters Association Annual Awards Night.
“Her sacrifices and relentless drive to improve her craft should serve as template to success,” said PSA President Rey Lachica, sports editor of Tempo. “Alex Eala is truly worthy to be a role model especially among the Filipino youth.”
Set March 6 at the grand ballroom of the Diamond Hotel, the traditional awards night of the country’s oldest media organization is presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV and ably supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham Tolentino, Milo, MVP Sports Foundation, Smart, 1Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero, Philippine Basketball Association, Rain or Shine, International Container Terminal Services Inc. and OKBet.
Based in Mallorca, Spain, for some time now, Eala is in good company as previous recipients of the PSA President’s Award include Olympians Yuka Saso and Caloy Yulo, National University Lady Bulldogs, pool champions Rubilen Amit, Dennis Orcollo and Lee Van Corteza, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Chairman Emeritus Manuel V. Pangilinan, among others.
Hidilyn Diaz, the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal winner, is the 2022 Athlete of the Year following her three-gold medal romp in the 88th International Weightlifting Federation World Weightlifting Championships in Bogota, Colombia.
Eala is currently in Manila for a brief vacation following her stint in the Thailand Open.
She’s set to fly back to Mallorca next week and start focusing on the professional tour and improve her current world ranking of 217.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza