Philippines' Alexandra Eala reacts to a point against Russia's Tatiana Prozorova during the WTA Singapore Open Tennis round of 16 in Singapore on September 24, 2026. Roslan Rahman, AFP
NAGOYA — Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala has no regrets choosing to represent the country at the 20th Asian Games to miss out on the Beijing Open.
Eala ended her Asiad campaign in the semifinals, falling to world No. 85 Xiyu Wang despite a strong first set, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, on Thursday in Nagoya, Japan.
The 21-year-old Filipina entered the women's singles tennis event as the top seed and world No. 18, being touted as one of the favorites to win the gold medal and Olympic berth.
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Despite not getting the result she and her ever loyal fanbase wanted, Eala has no regrets competing at the Asian Games.
"No... I feel like I have no regrets," Eala told reporters after her tough loss to Wang on Thursday at the Higashiyama Koen Tennis Center.
"It meant a lot to me to be here and to compete. And at the end of the day, I give my all, the best I could prep, I fought the best I could fight. Yeah, I'm happy I was able to have this experience," the Filipina tennis ace said in an interview with Cignal.
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Eala remains grateful for the unwavering support of Filipinos, especially those who flew in to watch her game live in Nagoya, Japan.
"Siyempre magpapasalamat. Binigay ko talagang todo. At no regrets kaya maraming salamat sa suporta," she said.
Following her win against Joanna Garland on Wednesday, Eala shared how she deals with the pressure with her growing fanbase and how she copes with losing.
"At the end of the day, being a professional tennis player and a competitive tennis player, you know, losing comes, you have to understand that losing is part of the job and losing is always a possibility. That's why, you know, that's what makes tennis so difficult," she said.
"That's what makes tennis so exciting is that you never know what's going to happen and you can't let your guard down. So, you know, I think that also contributes to, you know, my pursuit for excellence and my pursuit for the best version of myself," Eala said.
Following her Asian Games campaign, Eala said she would continue the tour and compete at the Wuhan Open, a WTA 1000 tournament, set for October 12 to 18 in China.
Eala has also been listed on the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis Tournament player list.
She is expected to make her debut in the WTA 500 tournament scheduled for October 26 to November 1 in Tokyo, Japan.