Philippine tennis star Iyala was selected into Time magazine's 100 Rising Stars, and Nadal praised his character and progress

Iyala. (File photo, AFP)

[Reporter Liang Weiming/Comprehensive Report] Alexandra Eala, who reached the semi-finals of women's singles at the Nagoya Asian Games tennis, has been selected into the "Top 100 Rising Stars" of 2026 by Time magazine in the United States. This list selects the world's most influential rising stars every year. The 21-year-old Filipino female player is also the only tennis player on the "Innovator" list.

"Iala was the first golfer I played tennis with after retirement." Rafael Nadal, who has 22 Grand Slam titles Nadal revealed that he has known the talented Iarra since 2018. She was only 13 years old at the time. She came all the way to the Nadal Tennis Academy in Mallorca and quickly emerged as a star. Now the Spanish legendary star is happy to see the rise of a young protégé who also holds a left-handed racket. He was invited by Time magazine to write an essay, "One day, she asked me if I wanted to play with her for a while. For the first time in months, I picked up a racket and started playing again."

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As a veteran in the tennis world, the experienced Nadal has been paying close attention to Iiala's career. From last year's Miami defeating three Grand Slam champions as a wild card dark horse, to this year's WTA 500 championship in Washington, becoming the first Filipino hope to rank among the Top 20. "One of Iiala's biggest advantages is One, precisely because she listens, learns and continues to improve, but perhaps more importantly, she is still a great person, warm, gracious and humble, and it is not easy to become a true tennis prodigy at such a young age. For now, we just have to continue to enjoy watching her progress.”

The extremely popular Iyala always attracts a large number of fans from her compatriots to cheer her on when she competes in various competitions, and Japan is no exception. The top seed has defeated the Taiwanese-English mixed-blood Joanna in straight 2, and has reached the top four of the Asian Games for two consecutive years. She also won the bronze medal in Hangzhou last time and is ready to continue her challenge for the gold medal in Nagoya.