The dream goes on
Alex Eala would have wanted a little more time to celebrate her milestone victory in the Mubadala DC Open earlier this week.
But it is a quick turnaround for the Filipino ace, who opens her campaign on Thursday morning (Manila time) in the National Bank Open at Sobeys Stadium in Toronto against American standout Alycia Parks.
“All my attention is going to be on that [game],” Eala said at her pretournament press conference. “I have, I guess, all my life to celebrate my first WTA title.”
Eala defeated world No. 3 Jessica Pegula in Washington, DC on Tuesday (Manila time) and then flew up north for the 1000 tournament with little time to soak in her breakthrough title.
She has had time to reflect, though, on what has been a memorable stretch in her nascent career.
“The Wimbledon run was so amazing for me and so emotional,” Eala said, referring to her most recent Grand Slam stint. “And of course, this recent milestone in DC, my first championship, it’s been a crazy 24 hours.“
Those moments of looking back help Eala process her progress, especially since she doesn’t set hard targets for herself each year.
“I don’t really like to put a kind of a cap on what I’m able to do,” Eala said. “I think my primary goal is to play good matches and at a good level. And I think the more I’m able to do that consistently, the more rewarding it is for me. And I guess this week and the past summer have been really good in terms of that.”
“I think I’ve improved as a player if you compare now to the beginning of the year.”
Through all that, Eala has kept herself grounded. And it’s no mean feat considering her fast-rising popularity has made her one of the most sought-after stars on the women’s tour. She hasn’t lost touch with her goals and neither has she felt additional pressure.
“It’s not an extra burden,” the newly minted world No. 20 said. “And it’s definitely an honor to represent my country. And I’m super grateful for the love and recognition that I’m getting.
“[I]n those specific moments when I’m living it, they do become quite overwhelming, especially when I’m experiencing things for the first time, but all in a positive light.”
Pegula said Eala’s ability to take everything that’s happening in stride is one of the things the 21-year-old Filipino has improved on since her meteoric rise began in last year’s Miami Open.
“I think [she is] learning how to manage her emotions throughout a match a little bit better than [in] Miami,” Pegula said. “I think now, obviously, having established herself on tour as a top player … you learn how to manage your emotions a little bit better throughout a tournament.”
And more importantly, her game is evolving into one of the most dangerous in women’s tennis.
“I think the way that she plays with taking the ball really early and [being] super aggressive, [she] can go on swings of momentum very quickly, because everything starts happening very fast,” Pegula said. “If you’re the opponent, like all of a sudden, she’s changing the ball, taking it early, hitting winners, you’re out of position and things kind of move quickly.”
And Eala is not quite done yet, regardless of her results in Canada.
“There are so many things that I want to work on,” she said. “There are so many things that I focus on in terms of my progress as a player. So still have a really long way to go.”
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