Eala’s decent fight against Rybakina

By Al S. Mendoza (Guest Writer)

NOTHING to be ashamed of.  In fact, Alex Eala can walk on any mall with her chin up anytime at all.  Proud as a peacock.

 Yes, while it’s true that Eala lost to Elena Rybakina, that didn’t diminish the luster of her brilliant performance before going down in, um, defeat.

 That was last Sunday night, May 10, 2026, PH time.

 After putting up a courageous stance, Eala yielded a 6-4, 6-3 loss to Rybakina.

But that looked more of a win to me than a debacle for Eala, who, at 20, kept her composure and had, on several thunderous occasions, Rybakina on the ropes.

 It was the Round of 32 in the Italian Open, the match held before a sizable crowd in ancient Rome where a spectator—obviously a Filipino—kept hollering, “Laban Eala Laban (Fight Eala Fight)!” during changeovers.

 As usual, the 5-foot-9 Eala did fight with her heart and mind, engaging the 6-foot-0, Russian-born Rybakina from Kazakhstan in a ferocious skirmish during almost the entirety of the one-and-a-half hour match.

But the weight of Rybakina’s world No. 2 ranking was obviously too heavy to carry for the 44th-ranked Eala that in the end, the feisty Filipino tennis sensation had to let go.

Still, while Eala was stopped on her tracks, not her demeanor, though, as a determined warrior out to prove to the world that she’s got what it takes to be a champ someday.

 She showed it in the first set, when she refused to totally give up the ghost by rallying from a 1-3 deficit to stay close—bucking a match point to make it to within 4-5 holding serve.

 But just as Eala was cooking up a rally, Rybakina’s sheer power and experience (she turned pro in 2014) would butt in, even sealing the 6-4 win in the first set with a smashing ace.

 Eala didn’t fold up that easily, though, taking a 2-1 lead in the second set through a break-back in the set’s second game.

 Stung, Rybakina unleashed her full might to string up three straight games for a 4-2 bubble en route to a 6-3 second set win to wrap up the match for her fourth advance to the Round of 16 in five attempts.

 But as I said, Eala has her head held up high, losing to Rybakina, yes, but not after putting up a “more than decent” fight according to movie idol Johnny Revilla.

 And didn’t Eala excellently defeat Poland’s  Magdalena Frech and China’s Xinyu Wang to arrange her meeting with Rybakina?

 I tell you, Eala is a project in progress.  No rush.