NIKE cropped polo shirt, NIKE Sportswear women’s pleated tracksuit worn around the waist, DIAGOLD Majesty necklace, Aurora Glow bracelet, Solar Veil bracelet, and Lustre line bracelet. Photographed by Mark Nicdao for the December 2025/January 2026 Issue of Vogue Philippines
With a banner year behind her, Alex Eala aims even higher.
After losing against Jessica Pegula in the semifinals of the Miami Open last March, Alex Eala sat on the bench, looked out into the crowd, raised her arms, broke into a smile, and was enveloped in cheers. Despite being tired from her two hour-25-minute battle against her American opponent, the tournament’s fourth seed and a consistent contender for the big titles in the Women’s Tennis Association tour, the Filipina can’t help but feel grateful.
“It’s not typical for me either to be that upbeat after a loss,” she shared in a round table interview organized by her sponsor BPI after her stint in Miami. “But I was just at a point that I was so thankful. I lost, but I put up a good fight. I sat down and looked into the crowd and there were countless Filipino flags… I was in Miami, playing against an American, but the stadium was full of Filipinos. I just felt so supported and so loved.”
There was still much cause for celebration for her inspired run at Miami, a storied 40 year-old tournament whose champion list has the likes of Navratilova, Evert, Graf, Seles, Venus, Serena, and other greats. Eala beat a slew of grand slam title holders, from 2016 Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko to current Australian Open champion Madison Keys to her biggest scalp yet, six time major winner and former world number one Iga Swiatek. It was just spectacular to behold, even from tiny phone screens and through the weary eyes of folks fighting to stay awake from the other side of the planet. Never mind sleep, Filipino tennis fans now have someone to cheer for in one of the most global of sports.
“I’m so proud of myself and what I’ve accomplished. I’m [also] proud and grateful [to] the team and all the effort that they’ve put in. I’m just happy that, you know, they see results and that I can share this happiness with them also,” she tells Vogue months after Miami, in a photo shoot in collaboration with Nike, for which she is an ambassador. By the end of this season, the 20-year-old prodigy from the Rafael Nadal Academy has achieved even more, winning her first WTA 125 title at the Guadalajara Open and finishing in the top 50 to cap off 2025.
The year, though, wasn’t all highs. There were many missed opportunities and close matches that, on paper, should have gone her way. But through both wins and losses, Filipinos saw a determined young woman who rarely gives up, even against players who are taller, stronger, more powerful than her. That grittiness is slowly becoming her trademark, along with her dependable groundstrokes, deft touch at the front court, and her relentless defense at the back.
Alex says she is “hungry to do even more and to work even harder.”
She continues: “Tennis is such a beautiful sport because it really keeps you grounded. You lose, you really learn to lose, because you lose almost every week. And that’s what I’ve learned: there’s always going to be someone better than you. And what I try to do is just be the best version of myself.”
And she understands fully what it means to play for the flag, and to have a whole country cheering you on. “I like to emulate the best of us Filipinos,” she says.
See more exclusive photographs from this story in the December 2025/January 2026 Issue of Vogue Philippines, available at the link below.
By Jacs T. Sampayan. Photographs by MARK NICDAO. Additional interviews by TIN ZABAT. Deputy Editor PAM QUIÑONES. Beauty Editor JOYCE OREÑA. Styling Assistant: Renée de Guzman and Claire Fernando of Qurator Studio. Makeup: Angeline dela Cruz. Hair: Cherry Reyes of Toni&Guy. Producers: Julian Rodriguez and Esab Raymundo. Creative Production Associate: Erika Palacios. Account Manager: Yassi Centeno. Multimedia Artist: Lara Castañeda.
