HER sporting pedigree is one thing, but how Alex Eala makes sure her voice, in her own native language, is heard at the highest levels of tennis is another remarkable aspect of the 'Eala-mania' phenomenon.
Take a look.
In the midst of her relentless North American run, from clinching her maiden WTA title in Washington to making a deep round-of-16 run in Toronto, a report from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) News surfaced and started discussions, and led to frustrations, among Filipinos.
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During the station's Morning Live segment, veteran news anchor Heather Hiscor wrongly branded Eala and stirred furor online.
On August 8, Hiscor asked a Filipino-Canadian interviewee: “Alex Eala is an American of Filipino origin, she’s not Canadian, so why is she getting all this attention, don’t you think?”
In an era of information, it is quite hard to understand how one can still make such a consequential mistake, especially after Eala's growing popularity has made international headlines, driven ticket sales, and stirred massive online engagement.
While Albino, co-founder of the Canada-based 'Filipinix-Canadian' group Rise Tribe, acknowledged Eala’s influence, representation, and the overwhelming support from her growing fan base, she made no effort to debunk the mistake.
It may have simply been an error born out of a lack of knowledge, but still not handled responsibly.
By now, the social media furor that followed, we're sure, has made the news anchor fully aware that the world No. 20 was born and raised in the Philippines, studied at Colegio San Agustin in Makati, and only moved to the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca at age 13 after being offered a scholarship.
If that didn't do the trick, the news anchor should've heard Eala in her final post-game interview of the tournament on Monday, after losing to world No. 14 Belinda Bencic, when she addressed her countrymen loud and proud in straight Tagalog.
No punto. No slangs. Just how a homegrown Filipino would speak in the native tongue.
“Maraming salamat mga kababayan sa lahat ng ginawa niyo para sa akin ngayong linggo dito sa Toronto, sa Washington. Parati kayong sumusuporta, nagdadasal, nagpupuyat kaya tuloy-tuloy akong nagtatrabaho,” she said.
No apology or word from CBC News as of posting time. But from her end, Eala did quite enough to debunk it herself.
Class is served. Case closed.
She may have only won her maiden WTA 500 title in the US capital but Eala is as homegrown as they come.
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