Alex Eala bares doubtful status for this year’s SEA Games edition

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The best female lawn tennis player in the Philippines might not see action in the upcoming 2023 edition of the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games).

Alex Eala, PH’s highest-ranked female lawn tennis player of all time, will most likely miss the 32nd SEA Games after a conflict with her schedule in the 2023 French Open qualifiers.

The young Filipina ace revealed the development during a press conference last February 7, 2023, organized by Globe and BPI held at the Globe Tower in Bonifacio Global City (BGC).

“It’s one thing to transition from juniors to women’s, and another transitioning from ITF tour to WTA tour, and that’s what I’m working on right now,” Eala said.

The 17-year-old superstar recently took her competition to greater heights after leaving the juniors division to compete in the women’s category.

It was a crucial decision to make after finding tons of success in the juniors division where she won three total trophies in the Grand Slam series.

With a current world ranking of 217 since making her transition to the women’s category, Eala is still adjusting to facing the best of the best female tennis players and is yet to clinch a grand final ticket in the majors.

Eala also made it known that her priority for the rest of her playing calendar is to increase her points to earn more invites in the Grand Slam qualifications set to begin in the following months.

“That depends on a lot of factors, I have to defend and gain points when I can, it depends on who’s joining and who’s backing out. It’s gonna be my first pro grand slam, if ever, and my goal is to get to as many grand slams as I can,” Eala added.