WITH barely any room to breathe, Alex Eala is playing in her next big tournament in two days' time.
That's the gap between the National Bank Open in Toronto and Cincinnati for another WTA 1000-level tournament, which is quite the same amount of time between her title run at the DC Open in Washington before crossing the Canadian border to Toronto.
Eala plans to make the most of it
“I will take my two days off,” Eala said on Monday during her final press conference at the National Bank Open after her title run was ended by world No. 14 Belinda Bencic in a round-of-16 match where the 21-year old showed signs of fatigue.
Then she listed what she plans to do: roam the Canadian city, get a haircut, get her nails done, reunite with friends and, most importantly, get her mind off tennis.
Then she’ll be back on court.
“Like that.”
The Filipina, ranked No. 20 in the world, is arguably the busiest among the Top 45 players in the world, or at least based on the official WTA rankings website which states that she has already played 31 tournaments over a 52-week rolling period.
At 31, Eala currently holds the most number of tournaments played in the season among the listing.
As a point of comparison, here are the numbers of the elite 10: Aryna Sabalenka has played 18 contests, Elena Rybakina 21, Jess Pegula 19, Coco Gauff 18, Andreeva 20, Muchova 20, Noskova 21, Swiatek 19, Svitolina 17, and Anisimova 15.
Despite nursing that tener right ankle that she hurt during a three-set win against Caty McNally, Eala’s restlessness is hardly new.
For much of her rise into the Top 20, she has always chased the next breakthrough, the ‘step-by-step’ ranking, and the next win against a big name, where she has a lot of success judging from her 9-4 win-loss record against top 10 players, by the way.
While it’s fair to say that the Filipina rising star had worked twice as hard to get this far and sit among the world’s best, her schedule suggests she can’t stop grinding.
Health concerns
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Alex’s uncle, former PBA chairman Noli Eala, reiterated Eala's motivation to fairly address questions about her health.
“The price of success,” the older Eala said. “Many are concerned about Alex’s schedule, playing big tour events week after week. Fortunately or unfortunately, as a top tier player, Alex is mandated by WTA rules to play all WTA 1000 tournaments plus all Slams in order to total at least 18-20 tournaments per season. So Canada and Cincinnati are must-play as well as Beijing and Wuhan Open in addition to some WTA 500s. And this does not even account her desire to play for the PH National Team.”
And he’s correct.
The grind has been working for her so far as she play her best tennis under a hectic schedule: she’s won a WTA title last week, she’s beating top players one after another, all while filling the pages on Philippine tennis' history books.
Somehow, the 21-year-old rising star herself bared that she has learned to manage her busy schedule.
“I’m healthy, it’s something I’m super grateful for, something that’s obviously on top of my priority all the time. I’m counting my blessings, taking in the lessons I’ve had these past two weeks, and implementing them even more in a better way in Cincinnati and New York,” she said.
For now, the two days to do the mundane is enough let her breathe, recharge and reset before she gets back on the swing of things.
“Like that.”
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