Moving forward

Alex Eala will leave Brazil with a grateful heart following her 4-6, 1-6 loss to Janice Tjen of Indonesia in the quarterfinals of the Sao Paulo Open at the Parque Villa-Lobos on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Eala said she was happy with her progress despite failing to reach the semifinals of this WTA 250 event against one of Southeast Asia’s best tennis players.

She said she will never stop working hard to reach her dream of becoming world No. 1 and win a Grand Slam event like the Australian Open, US Open, French Open and Wimbledon Championship.

“I’m very ambitious, I think everybody has huge dreams in tennis,” Eala told Brazilian news site, Clay.

“To be world No. 1 and to win Grand Slams is my dream, but on a bigger scale of things, to be a professional tennis player and to reach this level is something I’m already very proud of.”

Eala entered the Sao Paulo Open oozing with confidence.

After a historic run in the US Open, where she became the first Filipino to win a Grand Slam match for the first time in the Open era, Eala clinched her first-ever Women’s Tennis Association title in the Guadalajara 125 Open in Mexico.

In Brazil, she beat qualifier Yasmine Mansouri of France in the Round of 32 before overcoming Julia Riera of Argentina in the Round of 16 to set up a dream quarterfinal duel with Tjen.

But against a 23-year-old netter who is expected to be her opponent in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games this December, Eala’s luck ran out.

The Indonesian ace overcame a 0-3 deficit by winning 12 of the 14 games to gain momentum en route to the convincing victory that sent her to her first semifinal appearance in a WTA tournament and, possibly, a spot in the world top 100.

Tjen, however, admitted that beating Eala wasn’t easy.

“I was focusing on every point, especially playing against Alex Eala,” Tjen said.

“We all know that she can come back at any time, and I was just trying to focus and stay in it until the end.”

Despite the setback, Eala is set to take home $6,815 — or roughly P389,000. She is also poised to reach her career-best No. 55 in the world ranking following her string of strong performances in the past couple of events.

Eala said she is truly grateful for the support of the Filipinos, prompting her to work even harder to bring pride and glory to the country.

“I feel so blessed now and it’s so difficult to grasp sometimes, because if you think about it, there are 115 million Filipinos and I am the first tennis player in history to be in the Top 100 of the WTA,” Eala said, adding that winning inside the tennis court is the only way she can give back to her country.

“So sometimes it’s so crazy. But I’m so happy to be able to give back to my country in any way that’s possible.”