Eala stoked by first-class treatment

Alex Eala does her best to remain grateful in her Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour despite not capturing any major trophies in her career.

The 20-year-old Eala said she acknowledges she is treated well in every competition she joins, regardless of her results.

She is currently in Spain for the Madrid Open, her first WTA 1000 event of the clay season.

“At this level, you’re very much -- it does come with its struggles. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a demanding job — but of course you’re treated very well, especially in individual sports, a lot of things are catered to you, and they have to be catered to you because that’s how you succeed,” Eala said.

“In my case, there’s a lot of attention. There’s a lot of attention from the media, a lot of exposure to the fans.”

“I think sometimes it’s a lot and if you don’t have that ‘spoonful of gratitude’ or you don’t have that guidance or that you don’t have a clear idea of who you are or what you’re going through, you can get lost in all these things.”

Eala has suffered early exits so far in her first two campaigns in the clay season as she lost to Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 4-6, 5-7, in the Round of 16 of the Linz Open in Austria last 8 April.

She suffered a 1-6, 4-6 loss to Filipino-Canadian netter Leylah Fernandez in the Round of 32 last Tuesday at the Stuttgart Open in Germany.

Eala’s campaign will only get harder as she joins two WTA 1000-level tournaments.

First will be the Madrid Open where the main draw starts on 22 April followed by the Italian Open in Rome from 5 to 17 May.

But her biggest campaign will be the French Open from 24 May to 7 June.

Eala said she appreciated the support from Filipino fans who make the effort to travel to her matches.

“Being loud and proud, especially when it comes to cultures, is so important and us Filipinos, there are very few nationalities that I see are as loud and proud as us. There are just so many of us that I think it should be celebrated, that there’s someone who’s on the world stage, representing the Philippines,” Eala said.

“Where you’re from, I think is a really big part of who you are, and the culture that you surround yourself in or the culture that you come from. I think that’s something that’s shared within all Filipinos.”