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Alex Eala joins childhood idol Maria Sharapova on ‘Pretty Tough’ podcast
ASM, Philippine Canadian Inquirer
October 08, 2026
Photo courtesy: Pretty Tough Podcast
Filipino tennis player Alex Eala has appeared as a guest on Pretty Tough, the podcast hosted by five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova.
The episode was released on October 7, and in it Eala reflects on her path from early-morning training sessions in the Philippines to the top 20 of the women’s game.
Alex Eala meets her idol Maria Sharapova on ‘Pretty Tough’ podcast
At 21, Eala is the youngest guest in the podcast’s history. Her appearance follows a season in which she became the first player from the Philippines to win a WTA Tour title.
The episode also brings together two players whose stories are closely connected. Sharapova was one of Eala’s childhood idols, and Sharapova previewed the conversation on Instagram, describing Eala as “the girl of the moment.”
In the preview, Eala shows Sharapova an old photograph of the two of them taken when Eala was a young girl, and says that as a child she once wrote that her goal was to become Sharapova.
Alex Eala meets her idol Maria Sharapova on ‘Pretty Tough’ podcast
In the interview, Eala traces her development back to her grandfather, Lolo Bob, who began coaching her when she was three.
She describes 4:45 a.m. gym sessions before school, training alongside her older brother, and the advice her grandfather gave her before she left home at 13 to join the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain. She also shares lessons from Rafael Nadal on choosing the right people to keep close and competing to the end of every match.
Eala speaks openly about the demands of elite competition, including what she calls her “capacity to suffer” and the value of candid feedback from her coaching team.
She recalls a match in Strasbourg before Roland Garros after which she and her coach disagreed on how she had played. She said she has since learned that full effort and a strong performance are not always the same thing.
The conversation also covers her US Open loss to Jovic, a match she had been in a position to win. Sharapova offered her view that close defeats can help a player become harder to beat.
Eala also discusses what it means to represent the Philippines, where interest in her matches has grown substantially, and how she manages the attention that comes with each result.
The episode caps a breakthrough year for Eala, who just over a year ago was ranked outside the top 100. In July she defeated defending champion Iga Swiatek 7-6(9), 6-2 at Wimbledon and became the first player from the Philippines to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam. Sharapova publicly called her “a star” after that win.
In August, Eala won the Mubadala DC Open in Washington, a WTA 500 event. She defeated defending champion Leylah Fernandez of Canada, Elina Svitolina and Naomi Osaka before coming from a set down to beat top seed Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the final. The title lifted her into the top 20 for the first time and made her the highest-ranked Filipina in WTA history.
Eala most recently won the women’s singles bronze medal at the 20th Asian Games and is taking a week’s rest before returning to competition.
The full episode is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast platforms.
