MANILA — Fresh from a breakthrough Wimbledon campaign, Filipina tennis star Alexandra “Alex” Eala is setting her sights on another major international assignment as she confirmed plans to represent the Philippines in the Asian Games in Japan later this year.
Eala, however, said she would not burden herself with expectations of reaching a particular round, stressing that she intends to approach the continental competition one match at a time.
“Asian Games is in my plans. Well, I don’t have a specific round that I say, ‘Oh, I need to reach this.’ The way I approach tournaments is kind of every match by match, round by round,” Eala said.
The 21-year-old added that while every athlete dreams of winning a championship, she would rather concentrate on the process than look too far ahead.
“I do want to get as far as I possibly can. Of course, the ultimate goal is to win, right? But I take it round by round,” she said.
Eala also reflected on her development since turning professional, saying one of the most important lessons she has learned is how to manage her emotions during matches.
“I think it’s a continuous process of learning things. Professional tennis, my journey in professional tennis has already been so long, but it’s only getting started,” she said.
“And I think that one thing I’ve learned about myself is how to control my emotions and how I can dictate my emotions rather than let my emotions dictate me. So it’s a way of handling myself better.”
The Filipina standout also rejected the stereotype that tennis players tend to become self-centered because of the sport’s individual nature.
“Maybe a misconception, okay, that’s popping into my head is that I’ve heard, I don’t know if this is true, people say that tennis players can be self-centered. I don’t think that’s true,” Eala said.
“I don’t think if someone is self-centered, I don’t think it’s because they’re a tennis player. I think maybe they’re just being self-centered because that’s who they are. It’s true that in tennis, to a certain point, when it comes to competition, you have to put yourself first and you have to think of yourself.”/PN
