Alex Eala expressed her gratitude to Spanish great Rafael Nadal for playing a key role in her professional tennis career.

The 19-year-old netter, who is currently in Japan for the women’s singles division of the W100 Takasaki, took to social media to thank Nadal for letting her be one of the young players to enroll in his Rafael Nadal Academy (RNA) in Mallorca, Spain.

Nadal formally called it a career following a 4-6, 4-6 loss to Botic van de Zandschulp in the Davis Cup in Malaga, Spain.

“Thank you Rafa! You’ve influenced me in more ways than you know,” Eala said.

“You have set up unbelievable opportunities for me and so many other kids, and for that I am so grateful.”

Eala said she wouldn’t be where she is right now if RNA didn’t give her a chance.

From 2018 to 2023, Eala honed her skills in Spain, where she was even ranked as the second-best tennis player in the girls’ division of the International Tennis Federation.

Eala, No. 163 in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, also won three junior Grand Slams, taking home the girls’ doubles title of the 2020 Australian Open with Priska Nugroho of Indonesia and the 2021 French Open with Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia.

In the 2022 US Open, Eala conquered the girls’ singles category after beating Lucie Havlíčková in the final, 6-2, 6-4, making her the first Filipino tennis player to win a junior Grand Slam in the singles division.

Aside from that, she also pocketed two bronze medals in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam in 2022 and even got two more bronze medals in the 19th Asian Games in China in 2023.

Nadal even personally attended Eala’s graduation ceremony in which he tagged along world No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland to serve as motivational speaker.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion gave Eala and her fellow graduates a piece of advice during the ceremony.

“Give yourself opportunities,” Nadal told Eala and other graduates.

“This is the reality, don’t get frustrated when things don’t work out the first time, don’t get frustrated when you have been trying for a while and things don’t work out. Keep giving yourself chances.”

Truly, Nadal has a huge influence on Eala.

And the lessons that she learned from the Spanish great are something that she wouldn’t forget for the rest of her life.