Photo from Rafa Nadal Academy Facebook
As Alex Eala makes deeper runs in the pro circuit, she gets introduced not only to top-level competitions, but also to such grown-up stuff like prize money. She isn’t even an adult yet, but this early, her parents said they have allowed the 15-year-old to keep her earnings.
“Yes, Alex gets prize money if she earns any,” said her father Mike on Wednesday.
She does, though not substantially. Records on the web have pegged her prize money at $5,600 thus far, a little over P270,000.
But the Filipino hotshot will try to pad that sum a bit at the W60 Bellinzona tournament in Switzerland.
Her valiant 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory over 22-year-old French pro Margot Yerolymos late Tuesday set her up for a late Wednesday night showdown with 32-year-old Romanian Laura-Ioana Paar.
Eala had previously beaten Paar in the second round of the W25 Grenoble in France in early February, when she forged a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory.
But Paar still holds a massive edge in experience, having won 495 professional games out of 770 outings. Eala’s pro record is still at 18-10.
Eala is competing in her 12th pro tournament, making the main draw as a junior exempt entry being the World No. 2 in juniors.
But it’s a tough field out there as 15 players inside the top 200 in the world are seeing action.
The Filipino ace won her first pro tournament in a Manacor leg in Spain and became just one of five players aged 15 and under to win a pro title in the last three years.