MANILA, Philippines — Whether it was the slower serve that somehow suited grass or simply a newfound level of play, Alexandra "Alex" Eala sure put together a strong grass-court season.
The grass is green for the Filipino tennis sensation, indeed.
Kickstarting what was easily the best stretch of her WTA career, Eala unleashed a perfect run to capture the 125 Birmingham title early in June.
After a second-round exit at The Queen's Club, Eala posted her best finish in a 500-level tournament, reaching the Berlin Open semifinals.
Eala defeated world No. 2 Elena Rybakina and No. 8 Elina Svitolina back-to-back in that tear.
World No. 32 Eala made a first-round exit in Bad Homburg but bounced back big time in Wimbledon, where she became the first Filipino singles player to be seeded at No. 29.
The 21-year-old further broke ground as the first Filipino singles player to reach the grass major fourth round in both the amateur and Open Era.
That historic run gave Filipinos a breather from a string of deflating stories starting with the tragic Ateneo men's basketball team-building in Aurora, the jockeying for Senate presidency, and the school shooting incident in Tacloban.
The "Eala-mania" peaked on July 4 in the Wimbledon third round where she ousted defending champ and world No. 3 Iga Swiatek, 7-6(9), 6-2.
"Yeah, I'm really emotional," said the teary-eyed Eala in the post-match interview before a jampacked crowd in the stands of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club Center Court.
"Maybe for someone like Iga, who has won so many slams, or maybe someone like (the Williams sisters) Serena or Venus, this achievement may seem small, but for someone who grew up in the Philippines...
"You know I went to train with my brother and my grandfather every day after school with my ruffled socks and my light up shoes and chubby cheeks. So, to her, this is everything."
That electric win against Swiatek set up watch parties across the country including a big one at the PhilSports Arena for her fourth-round match against Jasmine Paolini.
Eala fell to world No. 17 Paolini, 4-6-, 6-4, 3-6, but she walked off the Center Court receiving a standing ovation for an awe-inspiring campaign.
The lefty netter who drew big Filipino crowds in her matches concluded her grass season with 12 wins and four losses including a 3-0 card against top 10 players.
On top of inspiring an entire nation with her Wimbledon run, Eala secured the biggest payout in her career with a total of £309,000 (300,000 for singles fourth round, 9,000 share from doubles first round) or P25.39 million.
With Eala's fourth-round finish, she will most likely reach a new-career best rank of No. 28, too, once Wimbledon ends.
Eala will take a 3-week break before returning to the hard court in the 500 Mubadala DC Open set from July 27 to August 2 in Washington, D.C.
