Meet Alex Eala: The 20-Year-Old Filipina Tennis Star Being Compared to Manny Pacquiao
The stadiums are packed. Fans are staying past midnight. Hundreds are turning up just to watch her practice.
For Filipino communities across the United States and around the world, the rise of Alex Eala feels like something the nation has been building toward for a long time.
Eala, a 20-year-old Filipina who turns 21 on May 23, is one of the fastest-rising players on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour.
Her recent run of results has placed her on the brink of the world’s top 30 — a milestone no Filipino tennis player has ever reached.
“The country has been hungry for the next Manny Pacquiao,” longtime Filipino sports journalist TJ Manotoc told Front Office Sports. “When he was at his peak, life stopped. When there’s a fight, nothing’s on the road. Everyone’s watching.”
That comparison carries enormous weight.
Eala is proving she belongs in that conversation — not as a boxer, but as a Filipino athlete whose achievements transcend her sport and become something the entire nation and its diaspora can rally around.
A Night at Indian Wells Open That Tells the Story
Eala’s most recent appearance in the 2026 season was at the Indian Wells Open, where she reached the fourth round of singles before losing to Linda Noskova.
But her second-round match captured the spirit of what her career has come to mean for Filipino fans.
That match lasted 2 hours and 43 minutes — the longest of the day — and ended with a three-set win over world No. 52 Dayana Yastremska. The stadium was packed the entire way, with fans staying past midnight.
“For them to make the effort to stay up late and stay in the cold and cheer me on, it really added to the feelings and the emotions,” Eala told reporters after the match.
For anyone who has witnessed the energy of a Filipino crowd — whether at a Pacquiao fight watch party, a basketball game, or a community fiesta — the scene at Indian Wells was familiar.
“I did not expect this sort of fanbase or crowd rallying behind me,” Eala told Front Office Sports in an interview published March 7. “But it’s an incredible privilege to have, I tell you. And it’s not something your everyday person can experience, so I’m always so grateful.”
Her rise to fame has fans packing stadiums for matches, and hundreds are even making the trip to see her practice. Those types of crowds are usually reserved for superstars like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
She went on to beat Coco Gauff in the third round after Gauff withdrew in the second set due to injury. Her recent performance will likely see her crack the top 30 for the first time in her career.
A Family Rooted in Philippine Sports
Eala’s athletic gifts did not come out of nowhere.
Her mother, Rizza Maniego-Eala, was a women’s 100m backstroke bronze medalist in the 1985 Southeast Asian Games, according to Rappler.
Rizza’s sister is also a former national swimmer, while her brother is a swimmer-turned-tennis-player for the University of the Philippines tennis varsity.
Alex is also related to former sports commentator and PBA commissioner Noli Eala, who served as the pro basketball league’s commissioner from 2003-2005.
For a family with ties to UP athletics and the PBA — two pillars of Philippine sports culture — Alex’s global emergence feels like a natural extension of a legacy.
Her older brother, Miko, is also a budding tennis player at the Rafael Nadal Academy, where she once attended.
A Trail of Historic Firsts in Women’s Tennis
What makes Eala’s career so striking is the history she is writing for the Philippines with each victory.
She turned pro in March 2020 at the age of 14, nearly six months after making her junior Grand Slam tournament debut at the 2019 US Open. She won the girls’ doubles tennis title at the Australian Open in January 2020.
In January 2021, she became the youngest and lowest-seeded junior reserve to win an ITF title at the W15 Manacor event in Spain. That victory earned her entry into the WTA rankings, where she initially broke into the top 1000.
In August 2021, she made her WTA Tour debut at the Winners Open in Romania, becoming the first Filipino to win a tour-level match.
Then, in September 2022, she became the first Filipina to win a junior Grand Slam singles title at the 2022 US Open, at the age of 17.
By the end of 2024, Eala had accumulated five ITF singles titles and three ITF doubles titles. She entered Grand Slam competition for the first time in 2023, appearing in the Australian Open qualifiers.
2025: The Year Everything Changed for Alex Eala
In March 2025, Eala defeated Jeļena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and Iga Świątek before losing to Jessica Pegula in the semifinals of the Miami Open.
That performance was staggering. It made her the first Filipino woman to defeat a major champion at a tour-level event in the Open Era, and the first wildcard in history to defeat three major champions in straight sets at a single WTA event.
The Miami Open run also placed her in the WTA’s top 100 for the first time — another first for a Filipina. She ended March 2025 at No. 75 and finished the 2025 season at No. 50.
Now, entering 2026, she is on the verge of the top 30.
For Filipino-American communities across the country, Eala’s rise is more than a sports story. Each historic first she records is a reminder that Filipino athletes can compete — and win — on the biggest stages in the world.
The Pacquiao comparison, as Manotoc framed it, speaks to the rare ability of an athlete to unite an entire people, to make everyone stop what they’re doing and watch.
Eala is building that kind of following, match by match, title by title, with a community that is more than ready to claim her as its own.
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists.
