Alexandra Eala did not leave the Miami Open with her first WTA 1000 title, but she may have won even more in her breakthrough week.
A run to the semi-final for a 19-year-old from the Philippines catapulted Eala into the top 100 of the WTA Rankings and fired the starting gun on a career that has already been getting plenty of attention in her homeland.
The 2022 Junior US Open champion has been talked about as a star in the making for some time and she backed up her credentials in stunning fashion with her run in Miami.
A win against world No 2 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals was a stand-out moment, but her wins against Jelena Ostapenko and 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys were equally impressive.
She is already the highest-ranked female player to emerge from the Philippines and the question must be what comes next for this superstar in the making.
Seemingly frail in stature, Eala could cope with the power coming at her from some of the biggest names in women’s tennis and that bodes well for her future.
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Eala has been honing her skills at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca in recent years and the presence of Toni Nadal, the uncle and former coach of 22-time Grand Slam-winning legend Rafa, highlighted the influence their set-up has had on her formative days as a professional.
It is proving to be a prolific academy for rising stars of the game, with Felix Auger-Aliassime a regular visitor to the Nadal Academy and Grand Slam champion Bianca Andreescu also benefitting from her experiences with the coaching team in Mallorca in recent years.
Now Eala could be a poster girl for the success of the Academy, with Nadal’s legacy in the sport continuing with those benefitting from the classy tennis centre that bears is name.
Of course, Eala is a long way from being the finished product as a tennis player, but as was the case with Emma Raducanu when she won the US Open in 2021, the race for sponsors to go on the journey with a player who appears to have it all from a marketing perspective is now on.
She already has a Nike logo on her tennis outfit and that agreement is likely to be upgraded after her impressive run in Miami.
Racket manufacturers Babolat will be eager to ensure they enhance their association with Eala, with the French company that propelled Nadal to the top of the sport now linked to one of the first breakout stars from his increasingly prolific Academy.
Eala is also sponsored by Globe, a telecommunications company in her homeland, with her nationality certain to add to the sponsorship opportunities that may now come her way.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori and China’s Zheng Qinwen have cashed in on some huge endorsement deals in recent years, with sponsors in their homelands eager to be attached to local heroes who attract huge support.
Raducanu’s mother hails from China and her association with that part of the world added to the interest from companies looking to be associated with a player who had a big reach with a huge population that relishes the chance to celebrate and follow athletes that they can associate with.
Now Eala may benefit from in a similar fashion and as Raducanu confirmed after her US Open win, the opportunities to cash in with sponsors can be highly lucrative.
Eala appears to be humble, she handled her media duties impressive as she was thrust into the limelight in Miami and with her Instagram following swelling to 350k after her run in Miami, she is already slipping into the ‘influencer’ category.
She has adored the front covers of glossy magazines Tatler and Vogue in her homeland and can now expect more of that treatment, as she is keen to make an impact for all the right reasons.
“I would love to think that I make a difference,” said Eala. “You know, that’s the only thing I can do to give back to my country is to help inspire, to inspire change and positive change, to inspire people to pick up a racquet, to watch more tennis, watch more women’s tennis.
“I think that tennis in the Philippines has so much potential, because even though it’s not as widespread as other sports, I feel that we have a lot of hidden talent, and if we can have the support to back it up and the exposure to back it up, then I think that Philippine tennis can be a big thing.”
A big fan of five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova in her youth, Eala is eager to follow in her footsteps as she aims for the stars.
“My dreams have stayed the same, stayed constant,” she states. “I have always been a big dreamer. Like I said previously, to win Grand Slams has always been one of the end goals. To become No. 1 has always been one of the end goals.
“I think that this result came at the right time. I try — you know, being a successful junior doesn’t mean that you’re going to be a successful professional, so I made it a point to work hard every day and to trust that my time would come, and hopefully this is the time.”
Raducanu continued to attract attention long after the glow of her US Open win faded and the surge in interest around the Brit exploded as she stormed back into contention at a major event with her run to the Miami Open quarter-finals.
Eala went one better than Raducanu and these two stars could not provide a huge boost for the women’s game at a time when it continues to fight a challenging battle for publicity with the star names of the men’s ATP Tour.
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