From being that girl with chubby cheeks, ruffled socks, and a dream, Alex Eala is currently a top-18 global tennis player and the highest-ranked Southeast Asian woman in tennis history. Clearly, those years of sweat, hard work, and resilience are paying off. Among her many accolades is her historic first WTA Tour singles title, which she won at the Mubadala DC Open in August 2026 after defeating World No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the final. This victory also propelled Eala into the Women’s Tennis Association’s Top 20, making her the first Filipina to achieve the feat.
From the tennis arena she practically grew up in, Eala is now slowly gaining influence on a different stage— the fashion world. This isn’t a complete turnaround, because Eala has shown a flair for it in her competition outfit choices. But it isn’t an entirely new direction. Her flair for fashion has long been visible through her on-court style. “I love dressing up. I love looking good on court, feeling myself,” she previously told Town & Country, reflecting on tennis’ growing crossover with fashion.
Eala, now with a partnership with Nike, has been sprinkling her own touch into the outfits that she has been wearing in the court. Ahead of her Wimbledon main-draw debut, Nike gave Eala a custom sampaguita hair tie, which Alex described as a reminder of her home country and everything that brought her to where she is.
Nike has also marked milestones in her career through personalized footwear. Following her historic first WTA Tour singles title at the WTA 500 Mubadala DC Open in Washington in August 2026, Eala received a custom pair of Nike tennis shoes commemorating the victory. She debuted the personalized pair—reported to be Nike Vapor Pro 3s—at the US Open’s Stars of the Open exhibition at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Her relationship to fashion has definitely grown since her first Vogue Philippines cover shoot in 2022, when a nervous Eala quipped, “I’m better at tennis.” Even then, she already showed a natural instinct embodying fashion as seen in Mallorca, Spain.
Four years later, she looks increasingly at home in fashion’s front row.
Fashion Week Sightings: From Bold to Minimalist Looks
From running in center court, Eala now gets a front row view of the Fashion Week runway — seated beside major celebrities, including the renowned Anna Wintour, Chief Content Officer at Condé Nast and the Global Editorial Director of Vogue.
She first made her appearance at the Tory Burch last September 10, at the brand’s Spring 2027 Ready-to-Wear runway show, which took place at Isamu Noguchi’s Sunken Garden on Wall Street in New York City. She entered sporting a sharp red blazer layered over a striped shirt, and matched with wide-legged brown trousers. Eala has shared growing up watching her mother collect Tory Burch shoes, which gives a look into her exposure and relationship with the brand. During the event she was seated next to Amanda Seyfried, Lauryn Hill and Anna Wintour, a spot most people would just dream about.
This was followed by Michael Kors Spring 2027 Ready-to-Wear runway show at The Museum of Modern Art’s Sculpture Garden in New York. Here, she transitioned into an all-black ensemble arriving in a chic, floral midi dress accented with gloves, pointed shoes and a structured handbag. Eala was spotted again, sitting next to Wintour in the front row who had already taken notice of the tennis star.. Earlier this year, the Vogue icon publicly praised Alex Eala, highlighting the 21-year-old athlete’s passion for learning about and following the fashion world. Could this be the start of things to come?
To cap off this year’s Fashion week appearance, Eala attended the Calvin Klein Collection Spring 2027 Ready-to-Wear show. The collection was designed by Veronica Leoni and shown at the Terminal Building in New York, featuring four sculptures by minimalist artist Walter De Maria. The collection presented was a study in reduction and modern minimalism, and was reflected in Eala’s all-white, minimalist aesthetic that paid homage to tennis fashion as well. In an interview in the said event, she was quoted saying: “I love that in tennis, we’re able to express ourselves through fashion.”
Back to Competition Mode
Now set to return to the tennis court, Eala’s next scheduled tournament is the Singapore Tennis Open, a WTA 500 event. The main-draw play will begin on September 21, 2026. She is set to play alongside top tennis names like Jessica Pegula, Mirra Andreeva, Amanda Anisimova, and other Top 20 players. After which, she is set to represent the Philippines at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
With grace and poise, Eala seamlessly shifts gears to train as she pursues career opportunities of a lifetime.
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