Alex Eala’s Better Than Cinderella Story

By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III

Many Filipinos, whether tennis players or not, have followed Alexandra Eala’s (Alex) remarkable performance at the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) sanctioned tennis tournament in Miami, Florida, USA last week with the finals slated last Sunday.

Popularly known as The Miami Open, top-ranked tennis players from all over the globe had enlisted in the tournament to get a shot at the prestigious trophy and substantial prize-money that comes along with it. Not only that, since it is a WTA-sanctioned tournament, each win in the competition carries additional points that will be earned to climb up the thick and tightly-contested world rankings in women’s tennis.

Starting at a really young age, Alex had shown the grit and tenacity let alone the natural deft of a tennis player. Carrying her tennis racket that’s almost just about her height, she would practice in the tennis courts for three hours after school.

At 12, Alex was enrolled at the Nadal Tennis Academy in Mallorca, Spain where she honed her skills with topnotch coaches and inspired by occasional court rallies with the great Rafael Nadal himself.

Rafa, as fondly called by fans all over the world, had shocked the tennis world when he came out of Spain to play with an unorthodox swing generated by an extreme Western tennis grip. Yet it was his tenacity in court and never-give-up-attitude that endeared him to fans all over.  He would not concede a single point as he would run after every ball and try to make a play out of it. Because of this, he had, many times over, overcome a two-set deficit to win the game in five sets.

Redolent of Rafa, Alex too has almost the same forehand and backhand strokes as Rafa. She too would chase after every ball and show tenacity at every point.

Her resilience and determination are shown in her rise in the world rankings. Coming into The Miami Open as a 135^th-ranked player in the world, Alex was only given a “wild card.” In tennis, it means an opportunity given to a player whose ranking is not so high as to qualify in a particular tournament but is only granted based on the discretion of the committee. But Alex won in the wild card rounds and was allowed to join the tournament where, as the events unfolded, she had beaten three top ten players one after the other.

Alex is a smart tennis player at only 19. She showed this in her wins against the top-ten players: Ostapenko, Keys, and Swiatek.

Her court brilliance was also evident in her semi-final game against Pegula. In the beginning of the first set, it seemed like Pegula’s coaching team had figured out Alex’s game. Pegula started by being careful with her groundstrokes and waited for Alex to commit some errors. Pegula simply returned every ball deep enough so that Alex could not hit winners. This allowed Pegula to lead by 2 games in the first set which, against other players, would have allowed Pegula to go on full throttle and take the first set.

But not with Alex. Knowing that Pegula was playing it safe and waiting for her to commit mistakes, Alex changed her mode of attack by coming to the net to hit some volleys. She showed her volleying skills and was successful in tying the set at 5-5 and even bringing it to a tiebreak.

Alas, as some writers had pointed out, the clock struck 12 which was midnight in Miami. Thus, like Cinderella, Alex’s fantasy story had to end.

But that is not really the case with Alex.

Yes, she may have lost in the tiebreaker in the first set. But way past midnight, she fought hard and showed brilliance, audacity, resilience, and profound maturity by climbing from 3-5 down to win the second set at 7-5.

That was magical.

The second and third sets were played in the wee hours of the morning in Miami. And although the final score in the third set was 3-6, the battle was so hard-fought that even Pegula herself in the post-match interview had to admit that she was so tired.

Alex’s story is better than Cinderella’s. Cinderella turned into a lovely princess and rode on a magical coach courtesy of her fairy godmothers. The magic spell however, would disappear come 12 midnight.

In Alex’s case, the fantasy began when she picked up her tennis racket at a very young age. She turned into a tennis princess when she overcame the odds by qualifying to play at the Miami Open. The magic was cast when started beating the top ten players, Ostapenko, Keys and Swiatek. And especially Swiatek who held the record of being one of the few players to stay at the no. 1 ranking in the world for several months.

Alex is now no. 75 in the world. For her, the magic spell did not dissipate when she lost to Pegula. Her game was that of a winner. It was only a few breaks that went Pegula’s way that had beaten Alex.

In tennis, as in life, it is not the final score that matters. It’s how you fight hard, show courage and play with determination that counts especially when we are given the opportunity to show our talent like in the case of a “wildcard.”

True athletes like Alex are made of tough stuff. They have depth of character and confidence.

Also in life, as in tennis, a loss is never devastating, when a person knows their worth.

Unlike in fairy tales with happy endings, where the monsters, dragons and witches are vanquished; in real life, the monsters, dragons and witches survive and it is how we deal with them in our continuing story that shows true character.

Truly, while Cinderella has captured her Prince Charming’s heart, Alex has now captivated the loves of tennis fans all over the world. Alex’s fairy tale is a continuing story to be told even as it is already a happy ending as it is now.

(The author is the senior partner of ET Reyes III & Associates (ETRIIILaw)– a law firm based in Iloilo City. He is a litigation attorney, a law professor, MCLE lecturer, bar reviewer and a book author. Among the books he authored is Law on Property and Essentials of Land Registration [2024 Edition] which was on the bestseller’s list in online shops for several months. His website is etriiilaw.com).