IS ALEX Eala being toasted to high heavens too early? And that’s doing her more harm than good?
“It is not really helping her any,” said Ira Panganiban, the eagle-eyed broadcaster (dzRJ) and a motoring columnist of The Manila Times. “Toasting her to heights of glory is premature. She’s 19, and is barely starting her professional career. She has won big ones, sure, but in the end, that’s not something to really crow about. Not yet. Winning the majors or any WTA 1000 event is the real deal.”
Ira has a point, pouring out his emotions while we were seated at the pre-departure area of the Caticlan airport in Boracay, waiting for our flight to Manila last weekend.
According to him, those interviews coming in succession, on TV, on social media, and in other dissemination platforms, only added to the pressure on Eala’s struggles to be in-form at all times.
“Now that she’s up there, achieving some degree of celebrity status, those encounters with the media might have distracted her, disturbed her focus,” said Ira. “A good manager must know how to rein in Eala, selecting interviews that only truly matter.”
There was really a ton of media engagements for Eala after her sensational performance in the Miami Open that saw her bundle out Grand Slam winners Elena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and Iga Swiatek and become the first Filipino to barge in the semifinals of a WTA 1000 event.
It was as if Eala had become the latest tennis celebrity, which, in fairness, is true to a certain extent.
She was 144th in the world, a mere wild card, when she showed Swiatek, the world No. 2 and a five-time Slam champion, the door in their quarterfinals encounter. Eala is now 72nd.
But Eala was sent back to earth when she bowed to Jessica Pegula in the Miami Open semifinals — a defeat promptly brushed aside by an adoring nation hungry for new idols.
Eala would next exit in the second round of a Portugal event before she would face Swiatek again in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open.
This time, Swiatek got her revenge, beating an erratic-serving Eala, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, in two hours and 15 minutes.
“For sure, Eala will be back soon to resume her winning ways,” said Ira. “But to do that, she has to stay focused by eliminating unnecessary distractions — like too many media engagements.”
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