Alex Eala grew up watching Manny Pacquiao fights, huddled around the TV with family and friends, cheering on the Filipino boxing legend.
Now, at 18, Eala is emerging as a role model herself, having become the highest-ranked Filipina in tennis history, and the first player from her country to win a Grand Slam junior singles title.
The talented teen started building a following back home from an early age as she hit No 2 in the world junior rankings when she was only 15. She won the US Open girls’ singles crown in 2022, to go with her two doubles titles at the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 French Open.
When she triumphed at the US Open, her face was projected on massive billboards on the side of buildings in Manila. Shortly after, she landed on the cover of Vogue Philippines.
Now competing on the professional circuit, where she is up to a career-high 156 in the live rankings, Eala is grateful for the support she has received from her compatriots at home and across the globe.
“It’s a privilege to have all this love and this fanbase,” Eala told The National on the sidelines of the ongoing Madrid Open.
“I think the Filipinos they’re very hungry to see other Filipinos excel, and I’m also like that. When other athletes and other Filipinos excel, we get very excited, because you don’t see it very often. And I’m really happy to bring that pride and to be able to be a part of that.”
When asked about some of the Filipino athletes she drew inspiration from over the years, Eala does not hesitate to name "Pac-Man".
“Of course the biggest one is Manny Pacquiao. Ever since I was a little girl, when he would have fights, it’s like a holiday in the Philippines. The families they get together, they watch the fights,” she recalls.
“And of course, Hidilyn Diaz; she was an Olympic gold medallist. So we have so many people to look up to in the Philippines, and a really great community. Last time I was in the Asian Games, I met all of these Filipino athletes that have very special stories and very unique to each one, so I think it’s really inspiring.”
At the Asian Games, Eala won two bronze medals, in singles and doubles, further cementing her status as a rising star on the continent.
This week in Madrid, Eala justified the wildcard she was given by claiming the first WTA 1000 main draw victory of her career – a comeback three-set win over Lesia Tsurenko – to earn a clash against Sorana Cirstea.
She’s been slowly stepping up to the bigger tournaments on the WTA circuit, soaking up many lessons learnt along the way.
“I think one of the biggest takeaways is to have the correct mentality always and how body language and posture can influence your mood and how you play,” she says of her experience as a pro so far.
Eala got into tennis at the age of four as a way to bond with her brother and grandfather, who was her coach during her first 10 years in the sport.
“Spending every day with him and my brother really ingrained tennis in my DNA,” she said.
“In my mind, even when I was younger, I always thought my grandfather was doing it to make me a professional. I learnt later on that was not the original goal. It’s always been a dream of mine.”
At age 12, Eala won the prestigious under-14 tournament Les Petits As [as a wildcard], where she was noticed by representatives from the Rafael Nadal Academy. She moved to Mallorca, Spain, the following year to join the academy and has been based there since.
“We jumped at the opportunity to be able to move to Spain and to expose myself to another level of tennis,” she said.
“The one catch was that I had to be with my brother, so my brother moved with me and I think that made it a lot easier, because we were going through it together. And of course the staff and the people that I’ve met in the academy really made it my second home.”
Eala’s time at the academy didn’t just give her an education and access to elite tennis training, she also got to interact with 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, who is always practising there between tournaments.
“Just to be able to see him practise as often as I do, in person, and really see his work ethic, I think that’s something that I won’t get anywhere else,” she said.
Eala admired Maria Sharapova growing up and said she loved “everything” about the five-time major winner.
“I had a poster of her in my room, she was my fifth-grade project. I like her style, I like how she fought and ran after every ball,” gushed Eala.
Like Sharapova, Eala is ambitious, hard-working, and adopts a level-headed approach towards her career.
“I think I rose in the junior ranks quite quickly but I tried really not to think of the big picture and I always knew, by the time I was playing juniors, I already knew my goal was the professional level. I tried not to let it get to my head,” said Eala.
She’s been trying to make the most out of her experience in a big tournament like Madrid, practising with top players and enjoying the perks that come with competing at a WTA 1000 event.
“Yesterday I practised with Bia [Beatriz] Haddad Maia. It’s great the system here, when someone is looking for a practice partner, you can just put your name [forward],” she added.
“She plays obviously very well; especially practices like those I try to take to heart and soak in everything that I can learn.”
Eala wasn’t the only Rafa Nadal Academy player battling on court in Madrid on Tuesday. Fellow lefty, Abdullah Shelbayh of Jordan [nicknamed Abboud], won his opening qualifying round before falling to Corentin Moutet at the next hurdle.
“I’ve known Abboud since maybe 10 or 11 years old. He’s a really funny guy and if you get to know him, you’ll never stop laughing,” she said.
“He’s doing really well, I think he just lost his match but he played really well the past two matches and I’m really excited to see more from him.”
Eala has many eyes on her with every move she makes, both on and off court, especially from young girls back home dreaming of following in her footsteps. It is a position that could seem daunting to some but Eala seems to be thriving.
“It's definitely not a burden. I would say the support from the Filipinas is really a strength. To be able to receive so much love and support from this demographic, it gives me a lot of motivation and fuels me to do more,” she added.
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
The biog
Age: 30
Position: Senior lab superintendent at Emirates Global Aluminium
Education: Bachelor of science in chemical engineering, post graduate degree in light metal reduction technology
Favourite part of job: The challenge, because it is challenging
Favourite quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” Gandi
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Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Zayed Sustainability Prize
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Jawan
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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
The biog
Name: Salem Alkarbi
Age: 32
Favourite Al Wasl player: Alexandre Oliveira
First started supporting Al Wasl: 7
Biggest rival: Al Nasr
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
