Alexandra Eala's dilemma: between the WTA rules and the dream of the Asian Games

The price of popularity. An unconditional enthusiasm that accompanies her wherever in the world she plays. The rise of Alexandra Eala and her breakthrough into major tennis - with the first WTA trophy won at the beginning of August in Washington (lining up Zheng Qinwen, Fernandez, Svtolina, Osaka and Pegula) - have made her the most important female athlete in the Philippines.

Current number 18 in the WTA ranking - writes Supertennis - after reaching the third round at the US Open for the first time, the 21-year-old from Quezon City continues to move forward in her career and her popularity is only growing, to the point that a problem has arisen between the WTA and her country regarding the tennis player's participation in the Asian Games, scheduled from 27 September to 3 October at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya, Japan.

The event, which is held every four years, offers a pass for the following Olympics (in this case Los Angeles 2028), has often seen the participation of the best tennis players on the continent: the roll of honor includes names such as Qinwen Zheng, Kimiko Date, Shuai Peng, Jie Zheng and Yayuk Basuki.

The problem derives from the coincidence of the Games with the "China Open" in Beijing (30 September - 11 October): according to the regulations of the women's tour, in fact, players ranked among the top 30 must participate in all WTA 1000 tournaments. Tennis players who miss mandatory events without a valid reason, such as an injury, risk obtaining zero points - which must necessarily be taken into consideration among the 10 results that determine the ranking in a 12-month period - as well as a fine of up to $10,000.

To avoid all this, an exemption is needed from the WTA, which however has already denied it to Indonesian Janice Tjen, who was reluctantly forced to give up the appointment as announced on her Instagram profile. As for Eala, the matter is a little different since his name does not appear at all in the entry list of the Chinese "1000". Alexandra seems to have decided, regardless of the consequences, to give priority to the Asian Games where in 2022 in Hangzhou, China, she was stopped in the semi-final by Qinwen Zheng and returned home with the bronze medal. This time the goal is gold, an achievement that would skyrocket his popularity in the Philippines.

The Philippine Tennis Federation and the Olympic Committee take Eala's participation in the Asian Games for granted: "Alex will undoubtedly participate in the Asian Games, regardless of the WTA's decision," PHILTA executive director Tonette Mendoza said in a press release. And the president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, Abraham Tolentino, expressed himself along the same lines: "We can always say that Alex Eala is giving something back to his country, supporting the Filipinos both at home and wherever he competes; they have given life in an extraordinary way to that global 'Eala Mania'. The WTA has its rules and violating them entails sanctions. But Alex will be in Nagoya for his flag and for his country."

It only remains to be seen whether the WTA will actually apply the envisaged sanctions, because for Eala - recalls Supertennis - her country comes first.