IT IS still the same world-class Alexandra “Alex” Eala against the rest of the pack in the Asian Games (Asiad) — rain or shine, come hell or high water.
Playing on center court for the first time as the sun finally smiled down in Nagoya, Ms. Eala smothered Chinese Taipei’s Joanna Garland, 7-5, 6-0, and added a sure bronze medal for Team Philippines in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday before a Philippine flag-waving crowd at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center.
Ms. Eala, world No. 18 and Asiad No. 1 seed, survived a near upset against the WTA No. 143 Ms. Garland at least in the opening frame after trailing 4-5 before unleashing a 9-0 closeout that snowballed into the second set for the sweep in 109 minutes of play.
The 21-year-old Filipina pride thus secured a sure bronze medal for Team PHL with a semifinal stint, similar to how far she came in her Asiad debut in the 2023 Hangzhou Games.
And that’s exactly why she’s far from done, looking to continue her masterclass against either China’s Xiyu Wang or Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima in the Final Four to move closer to her ultimate golden bid.
Ms. Eala fell short from that mission in 2023 with 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 semifinal loss to eventual gold medalist and Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, who however is not around to defend her crown due to the ongoing WTA 1000 China Open in Beiing — which Ms. Eala sacrificed in skipping to play for flag and country.
Albeit she’s halfway through the mission of redemption now, it wasn’t a walk in the park for Ms. Eala — at least in the early goings of the projected one-sided duel given their gaps in world rankings.
Ms. Eala also had to adjust from a transition to outdoor play, having played at the cramped indoor practice courts in the first two games of the women’s singles and doubles due to inclement weather in Japan.
She looked rattled, at least in the first set, after losing back-to-back games to stare at a 4-5 deficit. But good thing for the lefty ace, she had enough gas left in the tank paired with a proven and tested experience as one of the top players in the pro circuit.
Ms. Eala served out to force a tiebreaker, broke Ms. Garland then held her own with a service winner as Ms. Garland’s return went long for a staggering 3-0 finishing kick and a 1-0 set lead.
Then, it was total domination for Ms. Eala with a bagel in the second to follow up her Round of 16 win against No. 517 Patcharin Cheapchandej of Thailand, 6-1, 6-0 after gaining a first-round bye.
“I think it’s understandable that everyone’s here to win. Everyone is giving their best,” said Ms. Eala on the tough stand of Ms. Garland as everybody itches to scratch the largest target on her back without Ms. Qinwen and other big guns like world No. 1 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, home bet Naomi Osaka (No. 17) and Indonesia’s Janice Tjen (No. 49).
“Being a professional and competitive tennis player, you never know what’s going to happen so you can’t let your guard down. That contributes to my pursuit of excellence and the best version of myself.”
For Ms. Eala, that pursuit is for the gold medal — not only for her — but for the Philippines as she sacrificed her participation in Beijing where she could have gained more WTA ranking points and dodge a possible $10,000 fine.
“It was a difficult decision but representing the country and playing in SEA (Southeast Asian) Games, Asian Games and hopefully the Olympics, they’re very close to my heart. And it’s a big part of my dreams,” she beamed.
To fulfill the ultimate goal of bringing gold though, Ms. Eala will have to juggle her acts with a women’s doubles Round 2 stint with Shaira Hope Rivera against No. 3 seed pair of Xinyu Jiang and Zhaoxuan Yang of China at press time.
As first-time teammates, Ms. Eala and Ms. Rivera found no problem scoring an easy 6-1, 6-3 win over Hong Kong’s Lai Ching Laam and Kallista Liu on Tuesday. — John Bryan Ulanday