Eala plays Charaeva in first match at home in 8 years

MANILA, Philippines — Manny Pacquiao, Robert Jaworski Sr., Hidilyn Diaz, Carlos Yulo and Alex Eala.

Among the few, these five athletes headline the majestic mural castle in front of the new-look Rizal Memorial Tennis Center starring the young Filipina tennis sensation as the country rolls out the red carpet for the historic WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open main draw before an expected full-capacity crowd today.

Only 20 years of age with her portrait already etched alongside the Philippine sports’ Mt. Rushmore of greats, Eala, with an entire nation behind her, slugs it out with Russian Alina Charaeva in Round 1 of the 32-player main draw.

Eala, the first Top-50 Filipina player ever at WTA, plunges into action as the No. 2 seed against WTA No. 163 Charaeva in the main event, at center court, of the 11-match opener projected to get going at 7 p.m.

Charaeva, 23, beat Eala in a lone encounter back in their ITF days in Spain in 2020. And she’s determined to strike again, hoping to pull another one against the Filipina in her homecourt.

But even with pressure, responsibility and challenge of epic proportions to win at home, Eala will march into the duel with the same mindset like she’s duking it out in any city stop of the WTA Tour.

“Yes, I have met her. She’s a very nice person and a great player. So, I’m just going to go and I’ve done everything I can to do the best of my ability to prepare. So I’m going to go and do my best,” vowed Eala.

“Although this is at home, my mindset in that sense is no different. I take it match by match. I’ll do everything I can to win my first one. But if not, it is what it is. That’s really tennis. I mean, you can’t win all the time.”

Winning, after all, is only a bonus as Eala already fulfilled the ultimate goal of introducing tennis to the Philippine audience with hopes of transforming it from a slept-on sport to a staple one here – eight years since her last game at home.

Eala, then only 12 years old, left the country in 2018, fresh from winning the PHINMA-PSC International Junior Tennis Championships, to study and train as a scholar at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain.

Tenny Madis, the country’s second-ranked player, goes up against Thai Mananchaya Sawankaew (WTA No. 197), UAAP MVP Kaye Ann Emana of Santo Tomas faces Russia’s Tatiana Prozorova (WTA No. 173) while National U’s Elizabeth Abarquez clashes against Japan’s Mai Hontama (WTA No. 244).

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