Alex Eala credits Maria Sharapova's 'angry' facial expressions for forming her grit

World No. 18 Alex Eala told her childhood idol, former five-time World No. 1 Maria Sharapova, that it was Sharapova's "almost angry" facial expressions during her matches that formed Eala's concept of grit on the court. 

On Wednesday's episode of Sharapova's podcast, where Eala was the guest, the tennis stars discussed Eala's "overnight success" in tennis, with the Filipina describing how watching Sharapova play taught her a valuable lesson. 

"You always had this expression on your face that was so serious and almost angry," Eala told Sharapova. "And when you would adjust your strings and hit yourself, for me that's grit. And when you say 'Come on' so intentionally, I really admire that."

Her own facial expressions tell Eala how she's doing on court. 

"I am aware that when my expression falls, I would just fall. The thing that's difficult is when you're aware of it...and I try to get out of this state, and I don't feel like I'm getting out of it, is when I really have to fight," Eala said. 

"And nothing's working and you're just like 'I've tried all these things and I'm still in this state where things aren't going my way.' And then that's when the facial expressions start to quiver...and you have to hold it together, not to mention you're doing it in front of thousands of people," she added. 

Once she starts thinking about the crowd's perception of her expressions, that's when she tells herself, "'Alex, you have to pop back in,'" she said. 

Eala also credited her mentor, five-time World No. 1 Rafa Nadal, for teaching her the value of suffering. 

"Nadal's fight, his ability to suffer, it was very physical," she said. 

"It's [not] easy to be in that situation where things aren't going well, I'm not feeling the ball well maybe, I'm gonna hit another gear, and I'm going to fight, and I'm going to get every ball back, I'm gonna try to do one more. And it's his ability to stay in that zone of suffering that I admire," Eala said. 

It's something she herself feels ignites her performance on the court. 

"I think one thing that I've learned in the past couple of months about myself is my capacity to suffer, and be in those situations where you're uncomfortable and you're out of breath and you're nervous," she said. 

"Recently, I've been almost looking forward to those moments where I'm out-of-breath or those moments where I'm really nervous. And I've learned to enjoy facing them head-on," Eala continued. 

When she's in these situations on the court, Eala gives herself a pep talk. "I say to myself, 'You've been there so many times and you know how to handle it that when you're there, you know how to do it'," she said. 

Early start

Sharapova took the Filipina back to how she started out as a three-year-old in the Philippines being trained by her grandfather, Lolo Bob, whom, Eala said, "sacrificed a big chunk of being a grandfather" to be her coach.

She described her school-age routine: Rise at 4:45 a.m., start training at the gym by 5 a.m., school at 7:30 a.m., finish at 3 p.m., practice from 5–7 p.m., back home for homework, dinner, and sleep, then repeat. 

Before she moved to Spain at 13 to study at the Rafa Nadal Academy as a scholar, Eala remembered the last piece of advice Lolo Bob gave her: "Alex, you have to be coachable." It's something that the Filipina has taken with her until today. 

She also gave her family props for giving her a "very happy childhood," which gave her "a great balance" amidst her rigorous training at the academy. Her brother Miko, whom Eala says is "so much better than I am," also helps improve her game. 

Eala ended her Asian Games stint representing the Philippines with a bronze medal. She returns to the WTA tour at the Wuhan Open, a WTA 1000 event in China, which begins on Oct. 12.