Alex Eala gets ultimate tribute from Rafael Nadal as she is only tennis star named on prestigious list

Alex Eala has received glowing praise from her idol Rafael Nadal after she became the only tennis player to be named on a prestigious list for 2026.

TIME selected Eala on this year’s edition of the Time100 Next list, which the magazine describes as an annual list of the 100 “most influential rising stars.”

The five categories for the list are: Phenoms, Artists, Leaders, Innovators and Advocates. Eala was named in the Innovators category.

In a piece posted on the TIME website, Nadal paid tribute to Eala as he made an interesting revelation.

“Alexandra Eala was the first player I shared a tennis court with after my retirement,” Nadal wrote.

“One day, she asked whether I felt like hitting with her for a while. For the first time in many months, I picked up a racket and played again.

“I’ve been lucky enough to know Alex since she began her journey at Rafa Nadal Academy, and have closely followed her tremendous career.”

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The 22-time Grand Slam champion added: “She still has plenty of room to grow. One of her greatest strengths is precisely her ability to listen, learn, and keep improving.

“But perhaps more importantly, Alex remains a wonderful person — warm, approachable, and humble.

“It isn’t easy to handle becoming a true phenomenon at such a young age, and she deserves a lot of credit for keeping her feet on the ground. Now, all that remains is to keep enjoying watching her progress.”

Speaking to Tennis Channel during the Italian Open in May, Eala admitted she finds it “crazy” that she speaks to Nadal regularly.

“Of course, meeting Rafa and just being able to to kind of converse with him on a quite a regular basis is crazy to me,” said the Filipina.

“And you know, sometimes I’m coached by Toni [Nadal]. If you told me that when I was younger, there’s no way I would have believed you.”

Eala holds a 40-22 record in what has been a hugely impressive 2026 season to date.

The 21-year-old, who is at her career-high ranking of world No 18, won her maiden WTA Tour title at the Washington Open in August.

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