Alex Eala names Manny Pacquiao as dream meet, reflects on growing fame beyond tennis

For someone who has already shared stages, tournaments, and spaces with some of the biggest names in tennis, Alex Eala still has one meeting on her personal wish list that feels bigger than sport.

Not another Grand Slam champion. Not a global celebrity from the tennis world. Not even one of the stars she has crossed paths with on tour.

For Eala, the one athlete she still dreams of meeting is Manny Pacquiao. The 20-year-old Filipina tennis standout revealed as much during her appearance on the Players’ Box Podcast, where she joined fellow tennis stars Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula, Jennifer Brady, and Desirae Krawczyk for a lighthearted conversation that eventually turned personal.

Asked which athlete from another sport she most wanted to meet, Eala did not hesitate.

“Manny Pacquiao, I haven’t met him yet. Obviously, he’s the Filipino icon,” she answered.

“He’s huge. Like, when he has a fight before, it would be like a holiday in the Philippines,” she added.

It was a simple answer, but one that says a lot about where Eala stands now in Philippine sports.

Because while she may not yet occupy the same once-in-a-generation cultural space Pacquiao did at his peak, she is quietly becoming something close in her own field — a Filipino athlete whose presence is starting to travel far beyond the court.

That rise has been especially evident over the last year, with Eala continuing to build her reputation on the global stage and recently reaching the round of 16 of the 2026 Miami Open before bowing out to Karolína Muchová.

Her climb has not only elevated her standing in women’s tennis, but also made her one of the most recognizable Filipino athletes of her generation.

And yet, by her own account, the growing attention still catches her off guard.

“I notice [the fame] most when I’m at home in the Philippines,” Eala said. “But even when I visited my cousin in Los Angeles, three people approached me. If you had told me two years ago that people would be asking for pictures … well.”

That kind of recognition may still feel new to her, but the pattern is no longer isolated.

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Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao congratulated Alex Eala for her historic run to the #MiamiOpen semifinal pic.twitter.com/KWK83Zczfu

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 29, 2025

Wherever Eala plays, there seems to be a Filipino crowd waiting.

Whether it is in major tennis cities or in places not always associated with packed tournament stands, she has learned that support from home tends to follow her.

“New York is a big one, as are Melbourne, Manila, and Dubai,” she said. “The Middle East has a massive Filipino population, which I think surprises some people.”

That global Filipino support, she explained, has even changed the way some fellow players view certain tournament stops.

Eala recalled a casual conversation before heading to Abu Dhabi, when another player suggested that drawing a crowd there would be difficult because Middle East tournaments are often associated with quieter attendance.

Eala saw it differently. “Middle East tournaments are sometimes known for having smaller crowds,” she added. “I told them, ‘Wait, you don’t realize how many Filipinos are there.’ For me, it was actually the opposite of what they expected.”

That perspective captures what Eala’s rise has increasingly come to represent.She is not just building a tennis career. She is carrying a fan base with her, one that shows up loudly and proudly in corners of the world where many athletes would not expect it.

In many ways, that is what makes the Pacquiao comparison feel so natural. Not because Eala has already matched his legacy — that would be unfair and far too early — but because she is beginning to understand what it means to represent the Philippines on a stage large enough for the whole world to see.

For now, though, her attention remains on the next stop. After her Miami Open run, Eala is set to shift her focus to the 2026 Upper Austria Ladies Linz from April 6 to 12, where she is expected to enter an unseeded draw that could include dangerous names such as Ekaterina Alexandrova and Emma Raducanu.

It is another test, another tournament, and another opportunity for her rising story to grow.

And somewhere down the line, perhaps another chance to meet the icon she still sees as the gold standard of Filipino sports fame.

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