Alex Eala leaves Toronto and sets focus on US swing

Alex Eala has nothing but gratitude for the love Toronto fans showed her. —AFP

There are a couple of things that Alex Eala can find time for now, after watching her sensational run over the last couple of weeks finally came to an end.

“I need to get a haircut,” she told reporters during her post-game press conference on Monday (Manila time).

“I haven’t gotten a haircut in a while. My nails are grown out. So, yeah, I’ll do a couple of things just to get my mind off tennis,” she said.

Judging by her subdued, yet visibly emotional, march out of the Sobeys Stadium’s center court in Toronto after bowing out of the National Bank Open, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Eala would willingly trade spare days, haircuts and nail trims for one more day in front of a crowd that gave her exit a standing ovation.

“I knew it was my last time, the last time that I was gonna be out on that court for a while,” the Filipino star said after dropping a 6-4, 6-0 decision to Swiss ace Belinda Bencic in their duel for a quarterfinal slot.

Bencic controlled the pace of the match with her first serve and rolled to the victory in just 73 minutes, as Eala dealt with the compounding physical and emotional toll of what had been a strong performance over the last fortnight or so.

At the end of the match, Eala gazed at the crowd, waved, picked up her bags and walked toward the exit one last time. The fans gave her a roaring ovation and Eala turned to march backwards and waved a few more times before finally walking off center court.

“The atmosphere this whole week has been just incredible,” the world No. 20 said. “It’s hard to describe to other people kind of the feeling of being in that stadium full of fans and all the love.

“I’m super grateful for the experiences that I’ve had here in Toronto. It’s been an amazing debut, so yeah, I’ll carry these memories with me for a really long time.”

And while the 21-year-old ace finds herself with spare time to forget tennis, the sport will be on the back of her mind as she prepares for two more important tournaments, another 1000 event in Cincinnati in the United States and the US Open, where she will be seeded anew for the hardcourt Grand Slam.

“I’m taking the lessons that I’ve had from these two weeks and hopefully implement them even more and in a better way in Cincinnati and New York,” she said.

While Eala has been credited for putting Filipino culture on the world stage with her brilliant tennis, the sport’s certified crowd-drawer sees herself as just a small part of the movement—crediting instead the community that came out to support her in every tournament.

“I am kind of just like a drop in the ocean when it comes to Filipinos and their pride for their culture and where they come,” Eala explained. “I do a lot to kind of represent my country and I’m very proud of it, but you see, the stadium was full of people who do the same thing, right?

“So I guess that just shows you what kind of a community we are and what kind of people we are and how supportive we are of each other.”

Bencic scored her 10th straight victory over left-handers, a slice of tennis trivia that had the world No. 14 puzzled.

“I hate to play against lefties so I’m surprised by this statistic,” Bencic said. “Very tricky.”

Bencic figured out Eala enough, however, to advance.

“Belinda put me in some really tough situations,” Eala said. “I wasn’t able to get myself out of a certain mood.

“It’s always tough, of course, after a loss. But like I said, I’m looking back at these past maybe two weeks as a really big positive. I think I’ve played really well.” INQ