—PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL EALA
The learning continues for Alex Eala and the lessons she is getting are coming from the school of hard knocks.
But don’t underestimate what those setbacks can do for the 15-year-old tennis prodigy.
“Yes it’s a much tougher level and she’s discovering it first hand,” said national coach Karl Santamaria who helps with her training when Eala’s in town. “There’s no better way to learn than to experience it yourself and as we can see, even in her losses she is very competitive.”
Eala suffered early exits in two straight professional women’s competitions in the past fortnight.
On Wednesday she bowed out of the first round of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) women’s $15,000 event in Manacor, Spain, after a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 defeat to Swiss Simona Waltert.
Eala beat the 20-year-old Waltert (No. 285 in the world) the previous week (6-1, 6-4) to make the second round of the ITF women’s $25,000 tournament also in Manacor.
But the Filipino teenager, a rookie pro with a world ranking of 765, fell in the next match to 24-year-old third seed and World No. 208 Jana Fett of Croatia (4-6, 6-3, 7-5).
Santamaria added that the Rafael Nadal Academy standout’s objective is “to keep improving her game.” Eala’s father, Mike, said the high level of play helps her adapt quickly to the ways of the pro circuit.
“Because of the limited tournaments due to the pandemic, the level of play of these 15K and 25K tournaments are so much higher than ever,” said Mike. “We know that Alex being a rookie in the tour is most often the underdog and has to always play her best level to see good results,” he said.