Camille Naredo

Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala answers questions and interacts with fans during a fan meet at Nike The Fort on Monday, July 13, 2026.

Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala answers questions and interacts with fans during a fan meet at Nike The Fort on Monday, July 13, 2026. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

ALEX EALA

Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

MANILA – As she continues to bloom as a player and individual, Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala said competing on big stages through the years has helped build her confidence both on and off the court.  At 21-years-old, Eala has been rewriting the history books and making the Philippines proud every time she competes on the international tennis scene.  In an exclusive meet-and-greet event at Nike Fort on Monday, Eala shared what she had to &#x27;unlearn&#x27; on her journey to becoming a world-class tennis player. <div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/7/13/historic-wimbledon-run-fuels-even-bigger-dreams-for-alex-eala-1338">READ: Historic Wimbledon run fuels even bigger dreams for Alex Eala</a></div>&quot;One thing that I&#x27;ve had to unlearn is not to attach, not to attach self-worth with results. So I think being an athlete, I&#x27;m 21, but I&#x27;ve been playing tennis since I was 4. So tennis is a big part of my life... One thing I&#x27;ve had to unlearn is detaching or not allowing self-worth to correlate with the results,&quot; Eala said during the &quot;Play Mind Games&quot; event. &quot;I think that is something a little toxic, but it&#x27;s also something that&#x27;s a little natural in the field that I&#x27;m at. But that&#x27;s almost more on the personal side than on the professional side,&quot; she shared. Starting out young in the tennis scene proved to be a tall order for Eala, as she had to move thousands of miles away from home and leave her family to pursue her dream. But thanks to her parents&#x27; support and the values they instilled in her, Eala was able to improve her game and progress from the juniors to the professional tennis circuit. While her skills on the court continued to develop, Eala also saw a growth not just in age, but also in her mentality and perspective.  \<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178393435914220260713-alex-eala-nike-meet-greet-JC0676.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala answers questions and interacts with fans during a fan meet at Nike The Fort on Monday, July 13, 2026. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News"/>Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala answers questions and interacts with fans during a fan meet at Nike The Fort on Monday, July 13, 2026. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</div>&quot;Another thing that I&#x27;ve had to unlearn, and I think this was more in my teenage years, was comparisons. I think you put a teenage girl, like a 16-year-old girl, who already, every 16-year-old girl or every teenage girl, naturally has comparisons to their peers or to whoever, to other teenage girls, I guess. And you put her in a setting that&#x27;s already professional and so demanding, you can imagine what that&#x27;s like,&quot; she said. At the end of the day, what matters most to Eala is that she is confident in herself and that she knows she has done her best in whatever she puts her mind to.  Because after all, Eala believes this confidence will reflect in her daily life and translate to her best performance on the court.  <div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/7/13/alex-eala-embracing-role-in-helping-unite-filipinos-amid-social-political-divisions-1417">READ: Alex Eala embracing role in helping unite Filipinos amid social, political divisions</a></div>&quot;I think that&#x27;s a process that I&#x27;ve had to go through. And I think it has a lot to do with self-esteem and self-confidence. So now it&#x27;s like a rock, guys. I&#x27;m happy to say that I love myself, I&#x27;m not comparing to anyone else. And I wish that on every little girl and every woman,&quot; Eala said. The 21-year-old is back in the Philippines fresh from her breakthrough Wimbledon run. Eala will be attending several events for her sponsors, including a meet-and-greet with fans, before locking in on preparations for the hard-court swing.

As she continues to bloom as a player and individual, Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala said competing on big stages through the years has helped build her confidence both on and off the court.

As she continues to bloom as a player and individual, Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala said competing on big stages through the years has helped build her confidence both on and off the court.

'I'm happy to say that I love myself:' Alex Eala shares what she had to 'unlearn' to reach world-class level

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'I'm happy to say that I love myself:' Alex Eala shares what she had to 'unlearn' to reach world-class level

Paige Javier,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 13, 2026 05:36 PM PHT

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Alex Eala

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