Girl in a hurry

ALEX Eala is looking forward to campaign at the professional level at such a young age of 14.

At such a young age, Alex Eala already knew what she wants to do: To become the next Rafael Nadal.

Eala appears to be a young girl in a hurry when she formally decided to turn campaign in the professional circuit at 14 years old.

Right now, 15-year-old Cori Gauff holds the honor of being the youngest tennis sensation in the Open era to reach the Wimbledon main draw, where she upset Venus Williams in straight sets.

Although eventual champion Simona Halep eliminated her, she still rose to No. 141 in the Association of Tennis Professionals world ranking, proving that excellence has no definite age.

In Eala’s case, she doesn’t want to become just the next Cori Gauff.

She’s aiming for a bigger goal, and that’s to become the Rafael Nadal — the Spanish powerhouse who is on top of the men’s singles world ranking.

“Of course, it’s Nadal,” said Eala, the No. 13 best juniors player in the world who is imitating Nadal with her aggressive baseline game.

“I really look up to him and inspire me to get better.”

Becoming the next Rafael Nadal is not just a mere dream.

Eala is also doing the work to realize it.

In fact, she’s now a scholar at the Rafael Nadal Academy, a premier tennis school named after the living legend in Mallorca, Spain. She’s also a Grade 9 student at the American International School.

“Actually, I’m now based in Spain. I just visit the country from time to time,” said Eala, who was with her father, Mike, who said they are very serious in building up the professional tennis career of their daughter.

“The tricky part there is that she has to reach a minimum number of points before she can get to the main draw of the pro tournaments,” the elder Eala said.

“So right now, we have to join as many tournaments as we can to earn points and book a slot in the main draw of professional tournaments like the US Open, French Open, Wimbledon or Australian Open.”

This is exactly the reason why Eala would have to skip the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

“Actually, I was in the lineup for the play-off of the SEA Games but, unfortunately, it was in conflict with a GA (Grade A) tournament in Osaka, the Mayor’s Cup, which was very crucial to me,” said Eala, the niece of former Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner Noli Eala.

“The Osaka tournament helped me rack up points and boosted my ITF (International Tennis Federation) ranking. It has a lot of benefits. The level of competition was higher and the points that I earned are more valuable compared to the SEA Games.”

She, however, is not yet slamming the doors for the national squad.

“I am really sad that I won’t get to play in the SEA Games, which would be held in the country. It could have been a perfect venue for me to show my talent before my family and friends,” said Eala, who powered the Philippines to a fifth-place finish in the ITF World Juniors Championship in Czech Republic early this year.

“But I’m still very open to join the national team in the SEA Games and other international tournaments in the future. I want to help the country bring back its tennis glory.”

Eala reiterated that campaigning in the professional circuit would not bar her from representing the country. In fact, her tennis hero — Nadal — also won a gold medal for Spain in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

It’s just quite amusing that at 14, she already knows what she wants to become and how to realize it., age is just a number.