Miko Eala draws praise from coach in US NCAA match

Photo from Rafa Nadal Academy Facebook

MANILA, Philippines—Miko Eala, Alex Eala’s 18-year-old brother, chalked up a debut win in the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championship with a hard-fought singles win for Penn State Saturday (Manila time).

Eala, the older brother of women’s tennis prospect Alex, held off University of Illinois’ Kweisi Kenyatte 7-5, 4-6, 11-9, in one of the Nittany Lions’ two victories against the Fighting Illini.

Penn State’s other victory was Christian Laloseljac’s sweep of Alex Brown, 7-6 (12), 6-3, as Illinois took the matchup 5-2.

The Nittany Lions dropped four of its singles matches and three in the doubles competition.

Penn State head coach Jeff Zinn was disappointed with the loss but he did praise his freshmen in the effort.

“I have good points and bad points to take away from the match,” said Zinn in an interview with the school’s official website. “Good points are that Christian and our new freshmen Miko Eala played really well.”

Eala, along with his 15-year-old sister Alex, spent a few years as a scholar at Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain before going to the States to play collegiate tennis.