Following her successful stint in the 2020 French Open, young Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala hopes to change the perception of the country's athletes in the international scene.
"I think a lot of people underestimate the Philippines when it comes to sports, especially tennis. To add to the reputation of the Philippines, it's really an honor," Eala told reporters on Sunday evening in a press conference.
"It's a really big honor for me to represent the Philippines. of course, I'm very proud to be a Filipina."
The 15-year-old recently reached the semifinals at Roland Garros, where she lost to hometown bet Elsa Jacquemot, 6-3, 6-2. It was the first semifinal finish by a Filipino in a junior Grand Slam tournament since Felix Barrientos in the 1985 Wimbledon juniors tournament.
Before the historic feat, she conquered once more world no. 33 Linda Noskova, whom she defeated in the Les Petits As competition in January 2018.
Eala's win over Noskova did not come without adversity. She dropped the first set before taking the next two to make Philippine tennis history.
"I think we have both grown physically and mentally. But I tried to treat it as any other match. I didn't think that much that I beat her in the past, or anything like that. Just another match, another opponent. I just stuck in my match and did what I had to do, and it all worked out in the end," explained the wunderkind.
Eala, who is based in Spain as a scholar of the Rafael Nadal Academy, has not seen her parents since February, and added that it would have been better if they were on-hand to watch her feat.
Due to the pandemic, it had forced her to become more independent, which in turn had increased her confidence exponentially.
Training had also come to a screeching halt in Mallorca in Spain, but when it resumed, she was able to draw inspiration from the "King of Clay" himself, as the two often trained in courts adjacent with each other.
A clay surface poses a more tough challenge than a hard surface, but Eala was up for the challenge, training for about two months prior to the tourney.
She had last played a tournament in March, before trying her luck again just a week before the French Open.
"Up until I moved [in Spain], I had been training on hard all the time, but the fact that I had achieved this amazing result on clay gives me a lot of confidence," recalled Eala.
Her next plans are still being plotted, for she only has a limited number of tournament appearances in a year due to her youth.
"My coaches are planning to join a few more 15,000 and 25,000-dollar tournaments, which are women's tournaments. So, we're trying to balance that out. Women's and juniors tournaments, and play enough matches so I can't lose the feeling," said Eala.