THE MODERATOR: We'll get started. Alex, welcome to Toronto for your first time, and congratulations on your title in DC. How have the last 24 hours been for you, and how have your travels been to get here?
ALEXANDRA EALA: It's been an amazing 24 hours for me. Of course, so many emotions, so many things to process, and processing also the transition from one tournament to another. So I'm very excited to reset and be here in Toronto for the first time.
THE MODERATOR: Raise your hand for the first question here.
Q. Every time you step on court there's always a chance of some sort of Filipino tennis history being made through this process. How have you stayed level headed and grounded?
ALEXANDRA EALA: I think, well, I mean, tennis is such a humbling sport, and at the end of the day it's my job. So, you know, learning to handle all of this, you know, kind of extra things that come with my job has definitely been a process.
I enjoy it. I enjoy a lot being in these sorts of environments, but there's so many things that I want to work on. There's so many things that I focus on in terms of my progress as a player, so still a really long way for me to go I think, yeah.
Q. It's been a really excellent summer for you. It feels like every time you step on the court it's like a new milestone. Thanks to your run in Berlin, you were seeded at a major for the first time at Wimbledon, where you made your first slam second weekend, and of course this title, your first title in DC. How has it all been for you achieving so much so soon within that time span? Have you had a moment to think about what you've accomplished, or is it just kind of on to the next, on to Toronto?
ALEXANDRA EALA: It's definitely a little bit of a mix. I think of course the Wimbledon run was so amazing for me and so emotional. I did have, you know, a break after that, so I was able to kind of reset, obviously processing that run, but also kind of just take a break from tennis because it was a long European season.
Of course this recent milestone in DC, my first championship, it's been a crazy 24 hours. My mind's just been going back and forth between focusing on the next match and, Wow, did I really just do that.
So it's definitely, I mean, it's a first for me, so I'm learning how to handle it. But, yeah, I do understand that I'm playing another match tomorrow, so all my attention is going to be on that.
I'm slowly transitioning, well, I have a day to transition (smiling). Yeah, I have, I guess, all my life to celebrate my first WTA title, yeah.
Q. Toronto has a large Filipino community. Are you expecting a lot of support from the Filipino fans this week, and does that give you any extra motivation?
ALEXANDRA EALA: Yes, I've been told that it's going to be a full house tomorrow, so I'm really very excited to see and experience the atmosphere.
It's nice to see, you know, that the Filipino community is really showing up and they're enjoying tennis, and hopefully it will help grow the sport as well.
You know, in the end, I hope to give them something, a new experience and a joyful experience.
Q. You've become a national heroine in the Philippines, and I think you were given a presidential commendation after Wimbledon. I was just wondering how much that pressure feels to you. I'm sure you're very proud, but is that an extra burden for you?
ALEXANDRA EALA: No, it's not an extra burden. It's definitely an honor me to represent my country, and I'm super grateful for all of the love and recognition that I'm getting.
In those specific moments when I'm living it, they do become quite overwhelming, you know, especially when I'm experiencing things for the first time, but all in a positive light.
When I step on court, I guess this is my, what, first or second year on tour, but I've been playing tennis basically my whole life. So if there's one thing I know how to do it's I know how to compete.
It's not always going to be good days, there's definitely going to be bad days, but that's one thing I can be a professional in, and I take pride in that.
Q. Wondering what took you to the Rafael Nadal Academy, and what your memories are of getting there, and what you think that has, I guess, added to your life as a tennis player.
ALEXANDRA EALA: Well, I mean, the academy has played a pretty big role in my life. I went to train there at 13. A little bit before that they reached out to my family and I went there as a scholar.
Yeah, I just, I have so many memories there, so many things that I've learned over all of these years, it's impossible to list them all. But I think, you know, one of the key things that I hold on to with my relationship with the academy is the relationships that I formed and the people that make it up.
My team right now is an amazing team, I trust them with my life, and, yeah, super happy.
Q. You beat such an impressive list of players en route to your title in DC. What does that do for your confidence right now, and does it change your goals at all for this season in terms of what you feel you're now capable of accomplishing?
ALEXANDRA EALA: I definitely think it opens my eyes, well, not really opens my eyes, but it's just kind of something, it's something that happened, and it's a marker to see my progress.
I think I've improved as a player if you compare now to the beginning of the year.
I never really placed kind of hard, set goals at the beginning of the year, like, Oh, I need to end the year at a set ranking, or, I need to win a tournament, or so and so.
I don't really like to put kind of a cap on what I'm able to do, but at the same time I don't really like to kind of just put myself in a bubble either and obsess too much over that.
I think my primary goal is to play good matches, and at a good level. I think the more I'm able to do that consistently, the more rewarding it is for me. And I guess this week and the past summer has been really good in terms of that.
Q. Curious how you approached the rain delay in the DC final, and how you were able to reset to come back the next day and close out the match and win the title.
ALEXANDRA EALA: Yeah, it was an interesting final. First, I think my first final that's been played over two days.
The time passed relatively quickly for me. I think I kept myself occupied quite well.
I definitely finished the first day a little drained after waiting for so long.
I just woke up kind of normal. I got my seven, eight hours of sleep, and I woke up and it was another day.
I was trailing behind on the score, but that's, you know, that's kind of part of it. I mean, she played really well the first set and, you know, even yesterday. But I'm really happy with how I kind of came out quite hot.
Q. Do you have any kind of relationship with Leylah Fernandez, and somebody who is from the Philippines versus an ethnic Filipino, how do you think that would go over in your home country?
ALEXANDRA EALA: Well, my relationship with Leylah is pretty good. I think we're friends. No, we're friends (laughing). She's a really great person.
I have not really dove into her, how you say, heritage or ethnicity. I know she's half Filipino through her mother. It's really nice to see, I do connect quite well with people of Filipino heritage on tour. Most notably, Sab Santamaria or Desirae. But, yeah, I think it's really nice to have people who kind of know a little bit about the culture.
Q. You're supposed to be playing doubles with Venus. Can you speak to your excitement with that. I know that you were supposed to play doubles with her in DC. Then, the second part to that question, I noticed in DC a lot of times you kind of ran away with the matches. It's like you enter a lockdown mode. Can you kind of speak to that, that shift in your matches that you had there.
ALEXANDRA EALA: Yeah, so first, with Venus, I'm really, really excited to be playing doubles with her again. I said last week that, you know, every opportunity I get to share the court with her is super cherished, of course, just because of, you know, she's super good, and I think she's got a great mentality and there's so much I can learn from her.
So really excited to be doing that, and in a different setting. I think it will be very fun. I think with the Filipino community and of course the amazing fans that she has, I think it will be a great atmosphere.
Then the second question, I don't really know what it is. If I could be in that mode all the time, like, I would if I could, I mean, but it's impossible to win every single game all the time.
I think I had really good momentum where, once I found my groove in those matches, specific matches last week, it just happened to unfold like that.
I think maybe the more time I spent on court, the better I felt the ball. I think throughout the week I ended up playing better than I started. So, yeah, I just try my best to kind of be in that mode of competition as long as possible.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports