Alexandra Eala
Twenty-year-old upstart Alexandra Eala, could well be the star player to watch in the tennis competition at this year’s edition of the SEA Games. That is assuming the Philippines will include her in the squad to the Games.
Ranked 69th in the world, stands out as a rising star in the global tennis scene this year, especially after her breakthrough as a wild card at the Miami Open in March, where she defeated three grand slam champions en route to reaching her first WTA Tour semifinal.
She defeated No. 2 seeded Iga Świątek in Miami, having also beating both Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys.
Several top Asian women tennis players are likely to parade in for the gold medal hunt at the Games.
Apart from Eala, Thailand’s own Mananchaya “Mai” Sawangkaew and Luksika “Ruangkhaw” Thararudee, as well as Indonesia’s dangerous Janice Chen are in the fray.
Although the official player lists from the 11 participating countries have not yet been submitted, expectations are high that the women’s singles and team events will be stacked with big names, especially top 200 players in the world rankings.
Eala began training at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain when she was 13 years old and has long been one of tennis’ most exciting prospects, winning the girls’ doubles titles at the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 French Open.
In 2022, she became the first player from the Philippines to win a junior grand slam singles trophy when she won the US Open girls’ singles title.
Twenty-one-year-old Mai is ranked 109th while Ruangkhawis is ranked 167th, but both are capable of pulling off an upset.
Indonesia boasts Janice Chen, ranked 204th in the world and recently peaking at 199th, along with Priska Madelyn Nugroho, ranked 315th and the reigning women’s singles champion from the 2023 SEA Games, making her another strong contender.
Vietnam’s Savannah Ly Nguyen, 24, who won bronze in the women’s singles event at the last SEA Games and is currently ranked 1,310, may also return to vie for a medal.
The tennis competition will be held at the National Tennis Development Center in Muang Thong Thani.
