Alexandra Eala is already preparing for the new season and she is doing it in style after hitting the practice court with none other than Rafael Nadal.
On November 19th, 2024, Nadal's career officially came to an end after he was beaten by Botic van de Zandschulp in the Davis Cup Final 8 and Spain went on to lose to the Netherlands. Exactly a year later, the former 22-time Grand Slam champion returned to the court. And for his first practice partner, he picked Eala, who went to his academy and is now one of the brightest talents in women's tennis.
“One year later, it felt great to be back on a tennis court. It was great to practice with you, Alex Eala! Next time I will be stronger,” the Spanish tennis icon captioned his Instagram post.
In the comment section, the 20-year-old rising star wrote: “Thank you for today, Rafa."
What Eala once said about Nadal?
As mentioned above, Eala attended the Rafael Nadal Academy and graduated from it in 2023. Before her graduation, the Filipina drew attention to herself when she won the 2022 US Open girls' singles title.
Over the last couple of years, Eala spoke extremely highly of Nadal and his presence several times. And in one of her interviews, she admitted to being inspired by just watching how the Spaniard went about his career and daily habits.
“It is hugely inspirational to see him practicing almost every day and to see him in the gym. It’s really motivating to see his work ethic, and something that we can all copy from him. Of course, to be within the presence of all this history and especially here in the museum to see it again. I looked up to him as a kid and I saw a lot of similarities. You know, we’re both lefties. I loved how he fought on court. So I try to also channel that when I play tennis," Eala said of Nadal in one of her past interviews.
This year, Eala wrote tennis history multiple times as she is the first Filipina to win a WTA singles title, break into the top-100 in the world, and reach a WTA 1000 semifinal. She finished the 2025 season enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 50 in the world.
