Job’s not yet done

Alex Eala is not yet done bringing glory to the country.

After ending the country’s 26-year title drought in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, Alex Eala will be taking a few days off before embarking on yet another busy season, starting with the Australian Open in January.

In an interview with Olympics.com shortly after winning a gold medal in the women’s singles event of the biennial meet, Eala said she will be spending the Christmas holiday with her family before boarding the flight to Macau to compete in the MGM Macau Tennis Masters from 27 to 28 December.

It had been a fantastic season for the Rafael Nadal Academy-educated netter.

After making a magical run in the Miami Open, where he stunned some of the biggest names in professional tennis like Jelena Ostapenko, Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys on her way to a breakthrough semifinals, Eala earned spots in the main draws of Grand Slam events like the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, where she pulled off her first victory.

She eventually won her first Women’s Tennis Association crown in the Guadalajara 125 Open in September before reaching her highest ever ranking of No. 50 last month.

Still, Eala is far from done.

“Maybe a couple of days. I went from pre-season to this, so I haven’t had a break in a couple of weeks,” said the 20-year-old Eala, who served as the flag bearer when the 1,600-strong Filipino athletes marched into the cavernous Rajamangala Stadium for the opening of the biennial meet.

“But that was worth it. Australia, it’s the fun slam. So I’m excited to have fun and give my all.”

In the SEA Games, which Eala branded as her “dream tournament,” Eala posted a gold medal in the singles and a pair of silver medals in the team and mixed doubles events.

She and Niño Alcantara fell to home bets Patcharin Cheapchandej and Pawit Sornlaksup in the mixed doubles semifinal, 7-5, 5-7, 7-10, to settle for bronze. She also received a medal in the team event where she was listed, but did not see action, with Shaira Rivera, Alexa Milliam, Tennielle Madis and Stefi Aludo.

But her biggest win was in the singles event, where she emerged as only the third Filipino to lift the regional trophy since Pia Tamayo in the 1981 edition in Manila and Maricris Fernadez in the 1999 event in Brunei.

Eala admitted that being at her best all throughout the SEA Games wasn’t easy, so she and her team have to work hard to regain her fighting form ahead of the Australian Open.

“We don’t have a lot of time, but I have to thank my team for that. I think they prepped super well,” said Eala, who got emotional when “Lupang Hinirang” was being played in the medal ceremony of the women’s singles event.

“This tournament definitely was one to prepare me for Australia with the heat, so I’m excited.”

After the Macau event, Eala will go to the Auckland Open in New Zealand from 5 to 11 January to get a good warm-up for the Australian Open from 18 January to 1 February.

In the event that she suffers an early exit, she can go home to compete in the first-ever Philippine Women’s Open that was organized by the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Tennis Association at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center from 26 to 31 January.