The door did not creak open for Alex Eala in 2025 — it swung wide, loudly, and in full view of the tennis world.

It only took a magical run in the Miami Open last March for the 20-year-old ace to finally put herself inside the Top 100 of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings.

From beating Grand Slam champions like Madison Keys of the United States, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia to world No. 2 Iga Swiatek, the Rafael Nadal Academy graduate made sure to announce herself to tennis fans around the world, including the casual Filipino spectators.

While she didn’t end up with a trophy in the scorching courts of Miami, Eala was able to catapult from No. 140 to No. 75 and gave herself a direct slot in the three Grand Slam tournaments of the year: The French Open, Wimbledon Championships and the US Open.

Eala made history once again in the US Open last August as her 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 over Clara Tauson of Denmark in the first round made her the first Filipino to win a main draw match in the Open Era.

“I would say that anything is possible and to dream big. I’m very ambitious, and although there was no one from my country who did this before or was successful in tennis,” said Eala, who drew strength from the Filipino fans watching live at Flushing Meadows in New York City.

“I took inspiration from anyone I could, from my family, from my brother. So just be ambitious, dream big, and know that you can do it.”

After her US Open campaign, Eala won her first WTA title at the Guadalajara 125 Open in Mexico after beating Panna Udvardy of Hungary, 1–6, 7–,5 6–3 last September and even rose to as high as No. 50 last October in the WTA rankings.

But Eala isn’t done just yet as she has one more title to chase before the year ends: The 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold medal in Thailand.

Standing proudly as the country’s flag bearer alongside volleyball star Bryan Bagunas, Eala looked confident as she entered the prestigious biennial meet as the favorite to win the women’s singles title.

Against home bet Mananchaya Sawangkaew and some dubious calls, Eala stood tall in the end with a 6-1, 6-2 victory and ended the Philippines’ 26-year title drought in the women’s singles.

It was a full circle moment for Eala as her mother, Rizza, won a bronze medal in the 1985 SEA Games in Bangkok in the women’s 100-meter backstroke event of the swimming competition.

As 2026 comes in, expect the No. 53 Eala to continue making noise as she banners the Philippines once again. In fact, she will make history in the Australian Open in January, where she will make her debut in the main draw.

Whatever happens is no longer important. At this point, only one thing is certain: Eala has arrived and she’s just getting started.