AMERICAN tennis star Coco Gauff believes Alexandra Eala carries a unique kind of pressure as she continues to break new ground for Philippine tennis.
Asked if she could relate to the pressure Eala faces while representing a country with passionate support for her, Gauff gave a direct answer, “no, I can’t at all.”
Gauff pointed to Eala’s growing significance in Philippine sports, noting that the 21-year-old Filipina has become a trailblazer, particularly in women’s tennis.
“She’s the first Filipino player to break a lot of the barriers that she’s done, especially on the female side,” Gauff said in a post-game interview.
“When you speak of athletes from the Philippines, she’s doing similar things to what Manny Pacquiao is doing for her country,” she added.
Gauff explained that her path as an American athlete has been shaped by the presence of numerous sports stars who came before her and helped establish a strong tradition for athletes in the United States.
Eala, meanwhile, is helping create that path for future Filipino athletes by reaching milestones that no Filipino woman had achieved before her.
The Filipina entered the 2026 US Open as the No. 17 seed after a breakthrough season that included her first WTA title and a run into the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Although Eala’s US Open campaign ended in the third round with a three-set loss to Gauff’s compatriot Iva Jovic, her performance in New York further raised her profile on the international stage.
Gauff’s remarks underscored the growing recognition of Eala’s significance beyond her results on the tennis court, particularly in a country where her progress has attracted a large and increasingly vocal following. (Adrian Co)
