The pain of missing out on your first title can be only as much as Alexandra Eala felt today. Such were the emotions that the 20-year-old sensation felt after her brutal loss against Maya Joint in the final of the Eastbourne Open. The Filipina, who had reached her first WTA final in Eastbourne, nearly missed out on a golden opportunity to take home her maiden win at this stage. Moreover, she found it tough to control her emotions in the aftermath of that tough loss.

After losing the first set, Eala came back strongly to level the match at one set all. Subsequently, the clash went into the match tiebreaker, with the 20-year-old sensation having four championship points to wrap the match. However, she squandered those four opportunities, losing the final set 7-6 (12-10) to suffer a heartbreaking loss. She broke down in tears, and the protégé of Rafael Nadal, whom she has idolized in her career, failed to control her emotions.

In what was a roller coaster final match, Eala had the chance to wrap up the encounter when she was leading 10-9 in the final set tiebreaker. However, Joint kept her calm and won the next three points to eventually seal the tie in her favor. Further, it was the youngest final in Eastbourne in over four decades, with Eala being just 20 and Joint being 19. Thus, it was a statement win from Joint, who toppled a visibly distraught Eala. Nonetheless, with this, Eala also became the first Filipino to make it to the final of a WTA event.

Later, Eala also explained why she got emotional after the match. During the post-match presentation ceremony, she said, “First of all, I want to congratulate Maya [Joint], on a great match and a great tournament. You did really well, and I think if I were to lose to anyone this week, it would definitely be you, so congratulations. Everybody who came to watch, you guys made it so special, it’s my first WTA final. It’s a big deal for me and for my country too.”

Further, she went on to add, “It’s historic, it’s the first time any Filipino has done anything. I guess that’s also why I’m so emotional, but you know it’s only the first. I’ll definitely work hard to do more. Wimbledon is next week, hopefully I’ll forget about this match.”

Interestingly, Eala has trained at the RafaNadal Academy in Mallorca since 2018. She had a dream first meeting with her childhood hero, and once described how she felt after meeting the Spanish legend.

When Alexandra Eala ‘fangirled’ over Rafael Nadal

Despite being just 20 and coming from a humble background, Eala made history by becoming the first player from her country to reach the final of a WTA event. Much of the credit goes to her training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca during her childhood days. Idolizing Nadal while taking up the sport, it was a dream-come-true moment for Eala to train there and bump into the legend himself in the form of Nadal.

Describing their meeting, Eala said, “The first time I met Rafa, I was on the way to his academy. Oh my gosh! I was on the way to his academy because I was going to try it out before, before we committed, I was just going to try it out for a week. And then we ran into him in the airport, in the Madrid airport, and we — it’s kind of embarrassing to say — we kind of ran after, like, not run after, but, you know, we were fangirling, and then, and then we told him, ‘we’re going to your academy’, and stuff like that. And then he took a picture with us, and I’ll try to find that picture, yeah, but that was the first time I actually met Rafa.”

However, later she stated, “Oh my gosh, that was the second time! The first time I met Rafa, he came to my school in Manila for a clinic before his like, a tour, you know, before opening his academy. I was probably 10, and it was a big, it was a big event, and they literally held the clinic in the courts of my school, and I remember Toni [Nadal] fed me a couple of balls. Yeah, there’s a video on YouTube of it. And I talked to Toni about that, that he fed me a few balls while he was in Manila. I mean, he doesn’t remember, probably, but I swear, I swear it happened (laughs).”

Up next, Eala will be seen in action at the Wimbledon Championships. She will face the 17th seed, Barbora Krejcikova, in the opening round. Can Eala come back stronger after her heartbreaking loss today? Let us know your views in the comments below.