Leave Alex alone

By Alex P. Vidal

“Pressure is something you feel when you don’t know what you’re doing.” – Chuck Noll

WE can cite so many cases of world class Filipino athletes who have supposedly “let us down” just when we were expecting too much from them.

Hero or superstar Pinoy (including those with mix races like Filipino-Americans, Filipino-Canadians, Filipino-British and so on and so forth) sports competitors who “broke our hearts” just when we thought our screams and so much adulation and worship were enough for them to vanquish their opponents or wound up on top of the universe one match after the other.

We will focus only on Wesley So, Lydia de Vega, Manny Pacquiao, and recently Alex Eala, all under intense pressure when they yielded the matches that mattered most, or games fans didn’t want them to lose, to make our long story short.

A chess grandmaster and erstwhile ranked No. 2 in the world, So’s most heartbreaking losses often stemmed from high-stakes, dramatic, or unexpected errors despite his solid, top-level play. Notable examples included his stunning 2025 FIDE World Cup exit, losing to Magnus Carlsen in a 2021 Armageddon tiebreaker, and a 2022 Norway Chess defeat.

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Those moments reportedly highlighted the intense pressure of elite chess, even for one of the world’s most consistent competitors.

While primarily remembered as “Asia’s Sprint Queen,” the late Lydia De Vega’s career included some notable, challenging moments against tough competitors and personal injuries.

But despite winning the gold in the 100-meter dash during the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, de Vega was beaten by her fierce rival P.T. Usha of India in the 200-meter dash, taking the silver with a time of 23.47 seconds.

Pacquiao was on the verge of winning his fourth match versus Juan Manuel Marquez but was zapped by a thunderous right straight to the jaw before being knocked out cold in the sixth canto of a 12-round tiff dubbed “Fight of the Decade” in Las Vegas on December 8, 2012.

We chose this subject matter after we read the remarks made by Liam McMillen on TennisHead following Alex Eala’s heartbreaking exit in the recently held inaugural WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila.

“Eala looked unhappy with her game throughout her straight sets loss to Osorio and looked particularly uncomfortable on her own serve,” wrote McMillen.

“It shows that drive and determination of the star that she wasn’t willing to accept her loss in front of an adoring hometown crowd.” McMillen was referring to the 20-year-old Filipina star’s loss in straight sets to Colombia’s Camila Osorio, who defeated the pretty Pinay by a scoreline of 6-4 6-4.

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The writer lamented that “Eala had been welcomed home like a hero, but she only managed to win two matches at the historic WTA 125 event.”

He added: “Thousands of Filipino fans were willing Eala to win the very first Philippine Women’s Open, but it was not to be in Manila.

Eala is ranked over 40 places above Osorio, but she was outclassed by the tricky Colombian throughout the match.”

As we have pointed out in the past, puttIng pressure on good athletes can either fuel peak “clutch” performance or cause a significant, “choking” decline in performance, depending on their mental approach.

While some of them thrive on pressure by channeling adrenaline into focus, excessive pressure often leads to anxiety, burnout, perfectionism, and decreased performance.

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High caliber athletes like Eala, Pacquiao, So, de Vega may become too cautious, tense, and focused on avoiding mistakes rather than playing to win when there’s a performance decrement (“choking”).

If they are under intense pressure from adoring fans and coaches (including overexcited relatives and friends), this may lead to mental health issues that will result in anxiety, depression, burnout, and eating disorders, especially in younger athletes like 20-year-old Eala.

Experts have warned high-achieving athletes may struggle to maintain high levels of performance, resulting in decreased satisfaction.

It’s but normal for Alex Eala’s compatriots and solid fans, including the media, to always expect her to win. But she is an upstart and could still stumble along the way to stardom.

On top of that, she’s human who may sometimes be conquered by tennis players lower than her remarkable No. 49 in the world in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) singles rankings.

While she’s making a name and doing adjustments in tournaments she’s heading to next anywhere around the globe, let’s continue to celebrate her talent and greatness, give her moral support and otherwise, but leave her alone.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)