AND the Filipina tennis rockstar is back home.
Following her breakout campaign within the grand grasses of Wimbledon, Alexandra “Alex” Eala on Sunday returned to the Philippines in a hero’s welcome as she’s set for a brief stay to satisfy fans before flying to the US for the hardcourt swing.
“Is that this really all for me?” beamed Ms. Eala, now dubbed as one in all the world’s tennis poster girls, upon her arrival to a packed crowd as posted by the Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA) on the packed NAIA Terminal 3.
Ms. Eala got here from Europe, where she enjoyed a brief vacation including an encounter with Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny at his Stockholm concert in Sweden, via Bangkok on board the Thai Airways after a stellar Round of 16 run within the Wimbledon earlier this week.
Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Patrick “Pato” C. Gregorio, Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham “Bambol” N. Tolentino, and PHILTA Secretary-General John Rey M. Tiangco, also Navotas mayor, led the welcoming delegation.
Banda Kawayan Pilipinas was also present, treating Ms. Eala with a special performance using their tribal instruments fit for her milestones for Philippine sports and culture.
Ms. Eala is on the town to carry three fan meet events hosted by her sponsors this week in celebration of her milestones with Filipino fans. She’s going to start a brief tour with Nike on Monday before BPI and Globe host their very own Ms. Eala homecoming parties the following two days.
The 21-year-old Filipina netted a string of firsts for Philippine tennis: the primary Filipina seeded player in Grand Slam history (No. 29), the primary Filipina match winner in Wimbledon and in addition the primary to achieve the third and fourth rounds of a serious, respectively.
But Ms. Eala made her mark beyond Wimbledon, impressing on the grass surface as a complete after winning her second profession title in Birmingham and reaching the Berlin Final 4 for an overall record of 12-4.
Her grass run included wins against world No. 3 and former champion Iga Swiatek of Poland in Wimbledon in addition to world No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and No. 8 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in Berlin for a profession total of seven wins versus Top 10 players.
With all of those feats, Ms. Eala is projected to achieve a brand new career-best rating of No. 28 within the WTA update this week after the Wimbledon, won by Czechia’s Linda Noskova, from No. 32 before the grass Slam. Her previous high was at No. 29 earlier this yr.
And he or she’s out to scale the world rankings even higher when she shifts her swing to the hardcourts of North America leading as much as the US Open, the season’s last Grand Slam, on Aug. 30 to Sept. 13 in Flushing Meadows, Latest York.
Before that, Ms. Eala is anticipated to fine-tune her bearings within the Cincinnati Open, Toronto Open, and National Bank Open in the US and Canada.
But for now, she’s out to make essentially the most out of her short time at home together with her friends, family, relatives and the ever-supportive Pinoy fans, who follow and rally behind her in every city worldwide. — John Bryan Ulanday