TNT Sports expert Mats Wilander praised rising tennis star Alexandra Eala, making remarks that she had “hands given by God” because of her impressive skills and outstanding performance at the Miami Open.
Eala, who was once a US Open junior champion, had only won two matches on the WTA Tour before obtaining a wildcard entry to the well-known Miami Open tournament. Regardless of her limited experiences, the young athlete proved herself as she topped the professional stage, beating top-athletes along the way.
She shocked the tennis community as she managed to make it all the way to the semi-finals with a stunning win against world No. 2 Iga Swiatek. With this, Wilander was truly in awe of the Filipina’s playing capabilities and even compared her to seven-time Grand Slam champion and former Australian Open finalist Marcelo Rios because of his uniqueness on the court.
Wilander told TNT Sports, “With Alexandra Eala, we’re talking about someone who has hands given by God. She understands the game as good as any player on tour. She reminds me of Marcelo Rios, where the talent is just boiling out of the fingers and boiling out of her hand, and she can do anything. And then the reason I say Marcelo Rios is, of course, she’s left-handed.”
He added, “In the women’s game, that is so cool that we have someone that comes out that does all these things that maybe [Aryna] Sabalenka and Swiatek are not great at doing. They’re great at other things.
“But suddenly, we have a player who can play tennis that is mystical to the rest of us. Like, ‘Oh, my God, how do you do that? How do you understand tennis? How do you hit those shots?’ The feel, the understanding—I love it. It’s basically what John McEnroe did to us in the 1980s.”
Besides defeating Swiatek, Eala also triumphed against French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and the current Australian Open champion Madison Keys. Truly, Eala’s exceptional tennis performance will continue to bring forth excitement towards tennis fans, and Wilander believes that she will continue to do great on the global stage.
Wilander then remarked that Eala is a “breath of fresh air”. He said, “I don’t think that she’s going to go away, she’s too smart, her talent is too good, she’s too gifted. She learned how to win when she was 12, so that’s not a problem. We’re going to love watching her develop into a great player because I do think that she’s going to become one.”
A recent social post by WTA shared that Eala made history by becoming the first Filipina to reach the top 100 rankings. The post stated: “Making history [for the Philippines]. Alexandra Eala is the first player from the Philippines ever to reach the Top 100!”
Netizens expressed their excitement for the young athlete. One netizen remarked, “This is just the beginning.”
Another netizen commented, “Good job! Jumping 65 spots from 150 to 75 is already a much bigger accomplishment and we Filipinos are really proud of you! Thankful for the honour you are bringing to our country. I don’t know if it’s the first time a Filipino ever appeared in the Ranking of the top 150 and not only that now you are in 75th place. Congratulations!!!”
“Insane skills, keep that level and real soon will be top 20,” another big fan added.
