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Few people have had a bigger influence in Alex Eala’s life than her grandfather, who was also her first tennis coach.
A couple of hours after Alex Eala dispatched Himeno Sakatsume of Japan in straight sets – 6-4, 6-0 – to ease into the quarterfinals of the WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open on Wednesday night, she was asked about her grandfather Robert “Bob” Maniego, who took her and her brother under his wing when they were still children.
As it turns out, her grandfather has been in her thoughts a lot lately.
“My lolo was a very big part of my life and of my early career,” she said during her media session. “He was my coach ever since I started up until I moved to Spain. Pinapag-isipan ko siya every once in a while when I have good results. And I guess that happened quite often last year, which is a good thing.
“Sometimes I think what he would tell me or how he would feel or how he would look or how he would react if he saw all that I’ve achieved today. But he’d always been so supportive and he’d always been, he always sacrificed a lot for me. And even when I wasn’t at this level or famous or anything like that, he was there, showed up every day.
“And I think that just reflects on how much love he has for me and the family.”
Indeed, her lolo would be proud of how much his apo has achieved in the past 12 months, especially now that she is just three wins away from winning a WTA title on home soil.
He would have been especially proud of how Alex won eight straight games against Sakatsume, who was making things interesting in the first set by holding a 4-3 lead. The Japanese even held nine break points, but Eala saved all but one in an impressive display of composure.
“I think I did save a lot of break points in that first set,” she said. “I think just staying calm was a big part of it. Not panicking. I think just taking it point by point was a big key to pulling through that game. I think that was a very crucial point of the match. Yeah, so I think just staying calm and staying focused was what I did.”
And just like in her opening match against Alina Charaeva of Russia, Eala repeatedly unleashed forehand winners and even mixed in a drop shot here and there. Sakatsume soon wilted under Eala’s relentless pressure as her unforced errors began to pile up.
“I think that I was able to get my groove the longer I was on court,” she said. “I thankfully ended the match playing better than I started. So, those are some good takeaways. But yeah, I just tried to take it point by point. There were so many difficult moments, especially in the first set. But happy with how I pulled through and managed those tough situations.”
The result was in complete contrast to the two players’ first meeting three years ago in Osaka, where Sakatsume thoroughly outplayed Eala 6-0, 6-3. How times have changed.
“It’s been almost two, three years since I last played her. She is a very physical player. She’s super fit, great fitness, very quick on court. But I think I’ve developed a lot as a player since last time that we faced each other. That’s why I think I have a couple more weapons now. But yeah, just the overall performance today was pretty good.”
Next up for Alex is a Thursday night match against fifth seed Camila Osorio of Colombia, a player whom Eala respects very much on and off the court.
“I think the next match is definitely going to be difficult. I think she’s a very experienced and very, very good player, very skilled player. And off the court, she’s just such a sweet person. So I think it’s going to be a battle like every match.”
But with the home crowd lifting her in her first two wins, Alex Eala has reason to be optimistic.
“I think I feel great and good. I’m at a good stage right now. Obviously the two wins, really, they feel good, to have these two wins at home. Nakakita na din ang mga tao na may panalo ako dito. And it feels good to have those two wins here at home. Especially it being the first edition of the WTA here.
“But yeah, the expectations are still the same. My goals are still the same, which is to do my best during the next match.”
Banner images from PHILTA/Philippine Women’s Open