Alex Eala, a Seed in Bloom on Grass
An interview with the Filipina star who will be a Wimbledon seed after great grass successes.
For Alex Eala, it’s been a season of results that have gradually started to catch up to a fame that came nearly instantly.
I wrote earlier this year on Bounces about the sensation Eala had become among fans in the Philippines and the wider Filipino diaspora, making her, arguably, the most popular player in tennis by many metrics.
The 21-year-old Eala has been followed and covered with an intensity like few players I’ve ever seen before. In an example of their enthusiasm and interest, I was invited on a Filipino TV show earlier this year to preview her unremarkable first-round match at WTA 500 Linz against Julia Grabher. But for the most part, her results didn’t often make waves outside of her native country.
This month, however, Eala has proven to be a bona fide world-beater on grass. After showing glimpses of her potential by reaching the final of WTA 250 Eastbourne last year, Eala returned to the lawns this year with purpose.
While the second week of Roland Garros unfolded, Eala started her grass campaign with a win at WTA 125 Birmingham.
In the loaded draw of WTA 500 Berlin, Eala beat recent WTA 500 Queen’s Club champ Donna Vekic in the first round, WTA No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the second round, and WTA No. 8 Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Linda Noskova in the semifinals.
With those results, Eala is back into the Top 30, and is projected to be seeded 29th at Wimbledon next week. It’s Eala’s first time earning that honor at a major, and there’s a bit of history with the feat: she’ll become the first Southeast Asian player to be seeded in singles at a major since Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn—another grass lover—at the 2009 Australian Open.
After her semifinal loss to Noskova in Berlin, Eala kindly sat down for a one-on-one interview with Bounces.
We discussed her recent success on grass, her very taped-up left arm, playing doubles this week with Venus Williams, and earning a seed at Wimbledon—which she said has particular resonance for her.
“To be a seed in a Slam—and Wimbledon, in particular, for me—it really touches close to home.” —Alex Eala
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