Fired-up Eala raring to strut stuff in Australian Open main draw debut

Philippines’ Alexandra Eala (L) attends a practice session ahead of the 2026 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 17, 2026.

(Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — Confidence, vengeance and homecourt advantage.

Those will be Eala’s fuel for motivation as she plunges for the first time into the Australian Open main draw, which boasts the heftiest prize pool in history starting Monday at the Melbourne Park.

Albeit thousands of miles away, the 20-year-old sensation is drawing inspiration and strength from a bevy of compatriots for what she considers as a "homecourt edge" in the Land Down Under, which should serve handy in her much-awaited campaign against the sport titans.

Aside from a historic main draw stint though, a hefty treasure chest also awaits Eala with a sure purse of $150,000 (P8.9 million), her third biggest since raking in $332,160 (P19.7 million) in the Miami Open semifinals.

Then it gets bigger from there should the stars align for the Filipina bet with AUD $225,000 (P13.3 million), $327,750 (P19.4 million) and $480,000 (P28.5 million) booked in the second, third and fourth rounds, respectively.

This year’s Australian Open offers the biggest prize pool ever with AUD $111.5 million for the champion, up from $96.5M last year. The runner-up gets to take home $2.150 million while the semifinalists and quarterfinalists win $1.250 million and $750,000, respectively.

“It’s been amazing. In this part of the world, there are a lot of Filipinos but the turnout this year has grown significantly I would say from the past years, so I’m so happy to see this environment,” she beamed during the AO’s pre-tournament presser over the weekend.

“People are excited. When I’m on court, they’re excited to see me. It’s flattering and it makes me feel welcome for sure.”

Eala, slowly climbing the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranks at now career-best No. 49, has become a rockstar in Oceania starting in her stint at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, and the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne last week.

Name it: from online engagements that steadily reaches millions daily regardless of any content featuring Eala to packed game and practice venues, and to meet and greets, she is having it all so far.

Eala made the Final Four of the Auckland tourney, her third WTA semis appearance, and was awarded the Evonne Goolagong Cawley Trophy in Kooyong as the 2026 exhibition champion following a 6-3, 6-4 mastery of Paris Olympics silver medalist and 2024 Wimbledon semifinalist Donna Vekic of Croatia.

And that should be enough driving force for her all-time-high confidence when she slugs it out with the “fastest woman server” in WTA No. 100 of Alycia Parks of the United States at 8 a.m. Monday (Manila time).

“It’s definitely great for confidence,” added Eala, former World Junior No. 2 and winner of the Australian Open girls doubles with Indonesian pal Priska Madelyn Nugroho.

“Getting matches always helps before Slams, so I’m confident with how I’m playing. It doesn’t mean that matches aren’t going to be tough here so I’m ready for playing here."

It would be perfect timing for Eala, who earned direct entry as a Top-50 player, to score her second main draw victory ever after the US Open after having been eliminated as early as the qualifying round in the past three years as a wildcard.

Although up against the grizzled Parks, who shares history with Venus Williams (2007) netting the fastest serve for a female tennis player at 129 mph in the 2021 US Open, it’s go time in “full force” for the grateful lefty wunderkind.

"It feels great. I’m super excited. Coming in as a main draw player gives a different vibe, especially with the struggles I had in the past coming here. So, I’m super excited coming here in full force," she vowed, also taking pride in the country’s historic hosting of the Philippine Women’s Open on January 26 to 31 with her availability as a wildcard still depending on her AO campaign.

“I try to take it with a spoonful of gratitude. Not a lot of people get to experience being here in this lifetime. It’s been a busy month, but there were so many blessings and memorable moments. My team has done well to arrive here in the best shape possible.”