ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA’S global rise reached another high, making it to the elite “TIME100 NEXT: The World’s Most Influential Rising Stars” list in the middle of her golden bid in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
TIME Magazine, one of the USA’s top publications that lists the world’s powerful, most influential, wealthiest and greatest people, released the next generation list on Thursday that included the 21-year-old Filipino pride for another national history beyond just sports.
Ms. Eala is listed in the Innovators category, being the only tennister in the world.
Other athletes in the fray are Olivia Miles (women’s basketball), Arch Manning (American football), Folarin Balogun and Naomi Girma (football), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (cricket) and Tyrese Maxey (basketball), among the few.
Ms. Eala’s inclusion in the list is buoyed by a banner year that catapulted her to the No. 18 in the world rankings by the WTA, the highest for any Filipino of any gender.
And it’s not stopping with a TIME Magazine feature as Ms. Eala paved the way for another Philippine milestone — a WTA 250 event in Manila next year.
The Philippine Tennis Association on Thursday confirmed the Philippine addition to the 2027 WTA Calendar, finally having a tour-level 250 event in November 2027 on top of its second year of hosting a 125-level in January 2027.
The 125 is a challenger level in the WTA echelon, hence does not count as an official tour title, while the 250 — as the entry level in the WTA Tour until the 1000s and Grand Slams — is. Ms. Eala has two 125 titles in her blooming career but was only named a WTA champion this year after winning the WTA 500 DC Open last August.
This year, Ms. Eala inspired the country in staging a historic WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open where she reached the quarterfinals after a loss to eventual champion Camila Osorio of Colombia.
For TIME, Ms. Eala made it after reaching the fourth round of the Wimbledon, the third round of the US Open and a championship in the WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington and the WTA 125 Birmingham Lexus Birmingham Open in England.
Ms. Eala, who first broke through the world tennis scene in 2025 after a Cinderella run in the Miami Open Final Four as a wildcard capped by wins against three Grand Slam champions, was also named as the “Star of the Swing” by the WTA for the grass and hard-court swing, thanks to her unparalleled following and popularity as one of the world’s tennis darlings.
And what way to sweeten this feat even more than the 40-year-old Spanish legend Rafael Nadal himself penning Ms. Eala’s chronicle on the reputable publication.
“Alexandra (Eala) was the first player I shared a tennis court with after my retirement. One day, she asked whether I felt like hitting with her for a while. For the first time in many months, I picked up a racket and played again,” said Mr. Nadal, referring to his training with Ms. Eala last year after retiring in 2024 with 22 Grand Slam titles and two Olympic gold medals.
“I’ve been lucky enough to know Alex since she began her journey at Rafa Nadal Academy, and have closely followed her tremendous career. And she still has plenty of room to grow. One of her greatest strengths is precisely her ability to listen, learn, and keep improving.”
For Mr. Nadal, Ms. Eala’s mentor since her junior days when she left the Philippines to shoot for once an unreachable star in the tough international tennis scene, there’s more to it than just Ms. Eala as a tennister.
“But perhaps more importantly, Alex remains a wonderful person — warm, approachable, and humble. It isn’t easy to handle becoming a true phenomenon at such a young age, and she deserves a lot of credit for keeping her feet on the ground. Now, all that remains is to keep enjoying watching her progress.”
Aside from Ms. Eala, also making it to the elite list is Filipino-American actress Isa Briones, with Emmy winner and The Pitt co-star Katherine LaNasa penning her blurb. — John Bryan Ulanday
