Rafael Nadal sends Vamos to his Academy's young pupil

Sunday, 24 January 2021 at 03:00

World no. 2 Rafael Nadal has been preparing for the upcoming ATP Cup and the Australian Open from Adelaide, serving a two-week quarantine and shaping his game on the practice court.

Having enough free time in his quarantine room during the day, Rafa has been following the results of the 15-year-old super talented Alexandra Eala from the Philippines, who works at his Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor. Eala is currently the third-best junior in the world, winning her first ITF junior titles at 13 and reaching the Orange Bowl semi-final in 2019.

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Last October, Eala reached the Roland Garros semi-final and won her first professional matches, preparing for an even better run in 2021. Competing at her beloved courts of Nadal's Academy this week, the 15-year-old is through to her first professional final at the W15 Manacor event, ousting four rivals and entering the title match.

Alexandra is trying to become the first player born in 2005 with a professional title. Nadal sent her encouraging comment with his famous Vamos following the semi-final triumph over Adithya Karunaratne.

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Eala defeated Karunaratne 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 36 minutes, playing more efficiently behind the second serve and delivering six breaks from eight opportunities to bring the victory home. They traded breaks at the beginning of the match, and Eala grabbed two more to take the opener 6-3. The youngster led 5-2 in set number two and sealed the deal with a hold at 15 in game ten to advance into the first professional final at the sixth event at this level.

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Sweet 15‼️ Con tan solo 15 años, Alex Eala 🇵🇭 se ha clasificado para su primera final @ITFTennis. Mañana luchará por el 🏆 contra Yvonne Cavallé. ¡Partidazo en la #RafaNadalNadalAcademy by Movistar!