Nelson Morales

Alex Eala and EJ Obiena at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games. POC Media/File

Article (news)

Dyan Castillejo

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770613990848Alex Eala and EJ Obiena 02092026.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Alex Eala and EJ Obiena at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games. POC Media/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Alex Eala and EJ Obiena at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games. POC Media/File </span></span></span></div><p>MANILA -- Philippine pole vault ace EJ Obiena has nothing but admiration for rising tennis star Alex Eala, saying he closely follows her journey and takes pride in how she represents the country on the global stage.</p><p>Obiena, who has long been a tennis fan aside from his success in athletics, revealed that he even has Google Alerts set up to keep track of Eala&#x27;s matches whenever he is unable to watch them live.</p><p>&quot;I love tennis,&quot; Obiena shared. &quot;And I love seeing someone that I personally know competing at the highest level.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/2/8/obiena-completes-asian-slam-with-indoor-gold-flies-to-germany-for-next-meet-1332">READ: Obiena completes &#x27;Asian slam&#x27; with indoor gold, flies to Germany for next meet</a></div><p>The world-class pole vaulter caught parts of Eala&#x27;s recent match at the Abu Dhabi Open, where the Filipina staged an impressive comeback after falling behind early.</p><p>&quot;I was able to watch some of it. Not all. The comeback win from 0-4. And actually making a comeback,&quot; Obiena said. &quot;I mean, that&#x27;s what Filipinos do. That&#x27;s what I think we&#x27;re kind of good at—making everything find its way.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/2/5/tennis-alex-eala-marches-to-abu-dhabi-q-finals-with-comeback-win-vs-belarusian-foe-0116">READ: Alex Eala marches to Abu Dhabi q&#x27;finals with comeback win vs. Belarusian foe</a></div><p>Beyond the results, Obiena highlighted Eala&#x27;s maturity and composure both on and off the court.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m proud of the way she delivers herself, the way she carries herself, and the way she represents us definitely is something we&#x27;re very lucky to have,&quot; he added.</p><p>Looking ahead, Obiena expressed optimism about Eala&#x27;s trajectory in the coming weeks, with tournaments in Qatar and Dubai on her schedule.</p><p>&quot;She has no points that she needs to defend, so her ranking is supposed to just keep going up,&quot; he said. &quot;I&#x27;m just looking forward to where she&#x27;s gonna be going.&quot;</p><p>Obiena also highlighted Eala&#x27;s strong foundation, having been developed at the Rafa Nadal Academy.</p><p>&quot;We gotta remember that Alex is basically raised in Rafa Nadal Academy—the guy that&#x27;s known for that,&quot; he said. </p><p>Asked about Eala&#x27;s broader impact, he answered: &quot;It&#x27;s a lot. Tennis is a much bigger sport than what I do, and I think she has a much bigger impact with that… I&#x27;m very happy that we&#x27;re getting the representation we need. And it&#x27;s about time that Alex is given the attention that she deserves.&quot;</p><p>For Obiena, Eala&#x27;s recent performances also reflect a crucial shift in mindset which he personally relates to.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m so happy that her self-belief finally is at that level where she knows that she can compete,&quot; he said. &quot;For me, the moment I realized that, it changed the game. You&#x27;re not participating, you&#x27;re gunning. And I think that&#x27;s what she&#x27;s doing now.&quot;</p><p>&quot;And I really am just proud of her,&quot; he added.</p><div><br/></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT6Vo-KDCeT/embed/captioned/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=540&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A1710248.8%2C%22ls%22%3A1709624.5%2C%22le%22%3A1710241.9000000001%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="1059" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><p>The mutual support between the two athletes was also evident online. Two weeks ago, they exchanged lighthearted comments on Instagram after Obiena mentioned an OPM track by Parokya ni Edgar that helped get him into competition mode.</p><p>&quot;That song has you locked in!&quot; Eala commented.</p><p>&quot;Always!!! Maybe I should jump with this next time. Hahaha,&quot; Obiena replied.</p>

<p>Philippine pole vault ace EJ Obiena has nothing but admiration for rising tennis star Alex Eala, saying he closely follows her journey and takes pride in how she represents the country on the global stage.</p>

Philippine pole vault ace EJ Obiena has nothing but admiration for rising tennis star Alex Eala, saying he closely follows her journey and takes pride in how she represents the country on the global stage.

EJ Obiena says 'proud' of Alex Eala -- 'We're getting the representation we need'

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EJ Obiena says 'proud' of Alex Eala -- 'We're getting the representation we need'

Dyan Castillejo,

ABS-CBN News

Published February 09, 2026 01:13 PM PHT

Read More:

abssports

tennis

pole vault

athletics

EJ Obiena

Alex Eala

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