Alex Eala’s rise in the 2026 season has been a sensational watch on the WTA Tour, as she has placed herself as one of the most popular players in the women’s game.
The Filipina star has packed-out arena all around the world, which has coincided with her flying up the WTA Tour rankings in the last few months.
The star currently sits at world No 19 on the WTA Tour following a very impressive run in the summer, which included reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon and winning the Washington Open.
After such a special run in the 2026 season, Eala has looked back on her rise in a recent interview.
Eala appeared on Pretty Tough with Maria Sharapova to speak about her career so far and the early days of trying to become a professional tennis player.
The Filipina star was asked about her time at the Rafael Nadal Academy and how hands-on the King of Clay was with her when she was training in Manorca.
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“When people ask me about the advice he gives, I always go back to the same one and it’s surround yourself with good people,” said the 21-year-old.
“And I could not stress the importance of this, the importance of trust. It’s like you don’t need a big circle. You just need a good one, a solid one. You can’t have people with ego. You can’t have people who are close-minded.
“You need you need to trust in them, you know, because in that way, you know, tennis is an individual sport. But when you have when you’re surrounded by people you trust, you can feel that they’re in it with you.
“And so the suffering becomes much much easier or not easier, but you know, it’s you don’t feel alone.”
Eala also said she felt a kinship with Nadal when she was trying to improve her game too, after having a conversation with Nadal’s former coach, and uncle, Toni Nadal.
“Toni [Nadal] would tell me that Rafa had difficulties with his serve for the longest time. And I guess when you look at my game and you compare it to the top players, that is the aspect that would be lacking in comparison to them.
“So I think that’s it’s nice to have such experienced people and such decorated people have gone through something very similar and you know Rafa [is] so iconic.
“So that’s inspirational to me and that’s something I can relate to is not having the biggest serve ever.”
Nadal’s academy recently celebrated its tenth anniversary and Eala is undoubtedly one of the most successful stars to come out of the programme.
Along with the likes of Coleman Wong, Casper Ruud, Jaume Munar, and Martin Landaluce, both the ATP and WTA Tours are littered with players who come through under the watchful eye of Nadal.
Eala is next expected to play at the Wuhan Open, which begins on October 12th. The star is yet to win a main draw match at the Masters tournament, so there is every chance she could make yet more career history in 2026.
