Welcome to the first instalment of Alexandra Eala’s blog. Aged 15, Alex is already making a big impact at professional events and earlier this year won her first pro title. She attracts huge attention in her home country and at the 2020 Roland Garros Junior Championships became the first player from the Philippines to reach the semi-finals of a Junior Grand Slam for 35 years. Alex, who this year received an ITF International Junior Player Grant, currently trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy and will be writing regular pieces for the ITF, providing insight into her tennis journey. Follow her progress here.

Watching the Australian Open has reinforced just how much I would love to compete at the Grand Slams in future: it has always been a dream of mine and one of the biggest dreams a player can have.

I always remember watching the 2018 Roland Garros women’s singles final and when Simona Halep was lifting the trophy, I recall thinking, ‘I can’t imagine how you must be feeling in this moment’. I also remember thinking that I really want to be in that position one day.

For now, though, I must be content to just watch and I always really like seeing Coco Gauff on court. Because she is only a year older than me and has achieved what she has, to me she is amazing and a real inspiration.

Coco has given a lot of players my age hope and she has shown what can be done, although I am a big believer that everyone will get there in their own time. Whether it is a few years or longer, I will have my own time and other players will have theirs.

But if I needed any further inspiration, I see it every day at the Rafa Nadal Academy. It’s really surreal for me seeing Rafa train as I have always looked up to him and he is one of my biggest idols.

Once you get past the fact he is one of the greatest ever tennis players, you see that he is really humble, down to earth and his work ethic is amazing, so he is definitely one of the best role models I could have.

In terms of form and taking the steps towards my big goals, over the past four weeks I have won my first professional title at W15 Manacor and reached the quarter-finals of three other women’s events.

Things have been going really well and my coaches and I have definitely seen improvement. I worked hard during pre-season – on my fitness and the fine details which you don’t get the chance to during a busy competitive season – and I’m happy with the results.

There were obviously defeats in that time and I feel differently after each loss. How I feel depends on how well I performed. I always ask myself, ‘did I give 100 per cent? Could I have given more?’

The worst losses are when I feel I could have given more, even if it wasn’t enough to win, or not done enough to put my opponent under pressure at any point in the match.

Those losses are always harder to take because if I’m going down, I want to go down trying, knowing that I’ve given my opponent a hard time and made her work for her victory.

But if I have learnt anything from the last few months it is that results will come in time providing you work hard and give it your all. In fact, as far back as I can remember, I have had my goals set on being one of the best and working harder, harder and harder to get there.

If you would have told me a couple of years ago that I would be where I am today, it would have seemed such a big step. I have improved so much in such a short space of time and going forward I hope to continue exceeding my own expectations.

I am a bit superstitious and don’t like speculating on what may or may not happen but I am working really hard with my team so hopefully there are more positive results to come.

I’m so grateful to the team I have around me and I’m also thankful to my family as they support me more than I could ever ask. Wherever I am in the world, my parents and extended family are following me on either a live stream or live scores.

When I won my first pro title, I called them right away as it was huge and I knew how much they would have wanted to be there to see it, but they also know how much I wanted to share that moment with them.

I am also constantly amazed at the attention I receive back home and I never would have thought I would get the media coverage that I do. Sometimes, just sometimes, it can put me on edge a little bit, when I’ve had a big loss, for instance, and there are interviewers asking questions.

But it is part of the job and if I do plan on becoming one of the best players then I have to handle it. On the whole, however, the coverage has a hugely positive impact and I am very grateful for it.

Ultimately, I feel no pressure at all from the interest in me. The support from home only adds to my motivation and I am really happy to be able to bring pride to my country. I hope I can continue doing that.