Ol’ Man River

By Al S. Mendoza

 IT has ended, yes, but that does not mean it’s the end of it. 

It will go on and on and on, like a river flowing unstoppably into the sea; the continuing journey, saga, of our dear Alex Eala is just around the bend. 

 We cried after seeing Alex Eala lose to Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 on Monday night, PH time.

 That’s natural.  We are human.   We feel pain. 

 You stay stoic, that’s being robotic, if not downright humanoid.

 But there’s no fretting after the crying.

Turbulence happens.    

 Consider it like spilled milk: No use crying over it. 

 Move on has always been the politically correct approach in times of trouble.

 Alex Eala wasn’t even mired in trouble.

 Before losing to Paolini, the wily 30-year-old Italian, Eala showed a tremendous amount of tennis dexterity that endlessly earned the adulation of a snooty Wimbledon crowd that applauds only once in a decade.

 Each of Eala’s three wins before her face off with Paolini was a courageous caricature of how to win with pride anchored on a big heart and a mental toughness rarely seen from a 21-year-old warrior.

First, Eala dispatched Mexican Renata Zarazua 6-1, 6-2 faster than Heart Evangelista could change wardrobe.

 That was Eala’s first win in the 139th edition of Wimbledon, widely considered as the fulcrum of global tennis.   

Second, Eala etched a stunning 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 come-from-behind win over rising Australian star Maya Joint.

Eala’s love-set win in the final frame to clinch the match was a totally embarrassing moment in the young career of the 20-year-old Joint, who humbled seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams before she battled Eala.

 In a Grand Slam, it is almost improbable for anyone to lose a set without a won-game—and Joint will have to live with that shameful 6-0 loss to Eala for the rest of her life.

 And then in her third match, Eala scored that incredible 7-6(11-9), 6-2 win over Iga Swiatek that sent shock waves worldwide as though an 8.1 magnitude earthquake had hit the Galapagos Islands.

 It was a victory to end all victories for Eala, who cried and cried and cried, unabashedly shedding tears of joy in front of a jampacked audience at Wimbledon’s sacred Centre Court—the only sporting arena in the world that reserves seats for British royalty.

 During the post-game interview, the way Eala responded to questions felt like she had already won the Venus Rosewater Dish, the sterling silver salver first awarded to the women’s champion in the 1886 tournament.

 And why not?

 In beating Swiatek, Eala did not only become the first Filipino to enter Wimbledon’s fourth round, she also became the first Filipino to defeat the tournament’s defending champion.

 If you ask me, to dethrone the champion would already feel like I had won the crown itself.

 So fret not, my dear fellas.

 Eala may have lost her fourth round match to Paolini (Alex wasn’t 100 percent healthy, I tell you, as she had a heavily-bandaged thigh and her swinging left arm was also wrapped in white sheet), but overall, she was like the true winner—if not the champion.

 As the saying goes, you win some, you lose some.  And, definitely, one loss does not define an athlete’s career.

 In Alex Eala, we have an Ol’ Man River. It flows and flows and flows.

 THAT’S IT   If only for the record, Alex Eala, by reaching Wimbledon’s fourth round, has raked in approximately P39.4 million (480,000 pounds with one pound equivalent to P82.19).  Who is complaining?… Happy birthday to Malaya M. Sadiwa (July 9)!