Rising star Alexandra Eala wants her compatriots to make their country proud in the J60 PHINMA International Junior Tennis Championships at the Manila Polo Club in Makati City.

“I hope that all of you can do your best in every match. This tournament meant a lot because it was at home,” said Eala, the world No. 56 who won the tournament in 2018, during the opening ceremony.

“There is no tournament that is insignificant with my career. I try to treat every match with the same focus and the same intention that I do the last.”

“All of you, the contributions you’ve given to Philippine tennis have also came back to me in a certain way so I’d like to share all my success with everybody here. I hope you will also work hard and show the world what the Philippines is all about.”

PHINMA chairman emeritus Oscar Hilado, who has been organizing the competition for the last 17 years, commended Eala for achieving so many firsts for a Filipina tennis player.

“Having made it to the finals at the recent Eastbourne Open and debuting at Wimbledon, Alex has truly experienced the stuff that dreams are made of,” Hilado said.

“I encourage you all to take inspiration from and emulate the levels of commitment to tennis of Alex.”

“The first of many. This is a mindset I hope that many of you can take as you forge on with your tennis journeys. The first of many is what achieving in sports is all about — opportunities to make it to the pinnacle will come many times in your careers. What will matter is not how many times you will fail but how many times you will get up to fight again. Just remember that each contest is the first of many whether you win or lose. I will do my best.”

Also gracing the event were Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) president Eric Olivarez and executive director Tonnette Mendoza, Philippine Tennis Academy president Romy Chan and Manila Polo Club president Alex Revilla.

Meanwhile, top seed Tennielle Madis, No. 7 seed Stefi Marithe Aludo and qualifier Mitchellen Alexa Cruspero were off to red-hot starts after hurdling their respective first-round opponents.

Madis beat Korean Kim Rae Youn, 6-0, 6-1; Aludo downed Singaporean Emma Lam Singh Maan, 6-0, 1-0; and Cruspero survived Dakshanasree SR of India, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Other winners were No. 2 Aoi Watanabe, No. 3 Choo Yesung of Korea, No. 4 Tsai Yu-ning of Chinese Taipei, No. 5 Chen Yuhan of China, No. 6 Haritha Shree Venkatesh of India, No. 8 Chiang Yen-Ni of Chinese Taipei, Taylah Lessue of Australia, Lara Rauti of Hong Kong, Park Seojin of Korea and Christina Hansman of Sweden.