Dennis Gaviola

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Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

MANILA – Whenever an elite athlete achieves a milestone or advances in their career, they spotlight on them gets bigger and more people will be watching their every move.Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala has been making her mark in the world tennis stage, rising among the ranks in the women&#x27;s professional circuit with each tournament. Eala achieved a career-high WTA No. 28 ranking on Monday, following her historic Wimbledon run where she reached the fourth round.With the better ranking and popularity also comes noise – both cheers and criticism.Eala, who is no stranger to comments on social media, said athletes must learn to strike a balance when viewing praise and criticism.  The 21-year-old underscored the importance of building one&#x27;s self-confidence, which will also reflect on the player&#x27;s demeanor both on and off the court.  &quot;I think this is a very important question, to have that balance. And I think it also goes back to that confidence. How confident are you in the work that you put in?,&quot; she said at the &#x27;Play Mind Games&#x27; exclusive meet-and-greet at Nike Fort in Taguig on Monday.Among the aspects of Eala&#x27;s game that has received much criticism is her serve, something she continues to improve and prepare for ahead of matches.But just like in any sport, Eala said athletes can come prepared but sometimes it will not always translate in every game.&quot;So I know that I put so much work into my serve. People don&#x27;t know how much work I put into my serve. So when I go out there and I have a bad serve day, it&#x27;s okay. Because I know I did my best, I know I&#x27;m putting in the work. I&#x27;m not letting it pass by. I&#x27;m not letting it, you know, just as an example,&quot; she explained.&quot;Or, I don&#x27;t know, something about my mentality or like that. I&#x27;m confident in the mentality that I have. I know I did everything that I could during that specific match. And people don&#x27;t know what happened to lead up to that match. They never know the full story,&quot; Eala added.While not every performance will be good, Eala said she makes sure to keep note of her plan and how she executed it or how she overcame changes in her strategy.  &quot;Before the match, I write things in my notebook. I write the game plan. I write a couple points that are important to remember. So, I just do my best to, during those moments, go back to those points and even sometimes narrow it down to one or two things. And then, if I&#x27;m able to execute that, normally it gets better,&quot; she said.The Filipina tennis star emphasized the value of having a solid support system, in her case her family and team, to be able to distinguish the constructive comments to outright negative ones.&quot;So, you know, if you have good people around you who are going to be there and tell you the truth when you need to be told the truth. And, you know, and hype you up when you need to be hyped up. And, you know, we&#x27;ll be transparent, we&#x27;ll be loving and have your best interest at heart,&quot; Eala shared.&quot;And you should hold them close and trust them the most, you know. Because at the end of the day, it&#x27;s all of this noise or any kind of external factors. Sometimes it&#x27;s ephemeral and sometimes it&#x27;s not real,&quot; she said.At the end of the day, Eala said her self-confidence and belief in herself is among the things that help perform, even when she&#x27;s faced with tough opponents on the court.&quot;Before the matches, or before I walk out on court, there&#x27;s a certain mentality that I find that I have to have, or I guess players have to have, and that mentality is that I can beat anyone. You know, you have to go into the court and believe that you can win. Because otherwise, what are you doing there? You&#x27;re in there just playing,&quot; Eala said.&quot;But in the same sense, it goes vice versa, and you have to remember that anybody can beat you. So I think that&#x27;s a good balance. And if you&#x27;re able to have that mindset, it really doesn&#x27;t matter who you have on the other side of the court,&quot; she added.During the exclusive meet-and-greet event, four promising Filipina juniors players were given the chance to interact with Eala.The young tennis players were Jana Diaz, No. 2 in the Girls&#x27; 18-and-under division; Kathlyn Bugna, No. 4 in the Girls&#x27; 16-and-under division, 2026 Palarong Pambansa gold medalist and top ranked player in the Girls&#x27; 14-and-under category Maristella Torrecampo and newcomer Scarlett Kramer.Eala answered questions from the media during the exclusive interview, while members of the audience got to ask as well during the meet-and-greet event.The Filipina tennis star is back in the country for brand and fan events, before she flies to North America for the hard-court swing.

Whenever an elite athlete achieves a milestone or advances in their career, they spotlight on them gets bigger and more people will be watching their every move.

Whenever an elite athlete achieves a milestone or advances in their career, they spotlight on them gets bigger and more people will be watching their every move.

Alex Eala highlights importance of self-confidence, support system in dealing with criticism

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Alex Eala highlights importance of self-confidence, support system in dealing with criticism

Paige Javier,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 13, 2026 11:42 PM PHT

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