Alex Eala shares her honest thoughts on who’s the greatest in women’s tennis and talks about her dream players to compete against.
Alex Eala has shared that her dream opponents are Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, and she also talked about who she thinks is the greatest woman’s tennis player ever.
The Filipino player picked Serena Williams as her top dream opponent, especially after teaming up with Serena’s sister, Venus Williams, in doubles at the Bad Homburg Open last June.
She also mentioned Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam winner, as her second dream opponent. Serena has a strong record against Sharapova, winning 20 out of 22 matches.
Eala, 21, told Channel News Asia that she believes Serena Williams is the greatest woman’s tennis player of all time, even though she admires Sharapova a lot.
Sharapova famously won Wimbledon in 2004 at just 17, beating Serena 6-1, 6-4 on Centre Court. Serena won their first match in 2004 at the Miami Masters, but Sharapova beat her again later that year at the WTA Tour Finals. After that, Serena won 19 matches straight against Sharapova.
Eala said she looks up to both players, but she made it clear: “Serena is just the greatest of all time. And Maria is someone I’ve admired since I was little.”
Born in 2005, Eala never got to see Sharapova beat Serena live, since Sharapova’s two wins over Serena were before she was born.
Eala has often praised Serena, who won 23 Grand Slams, during her own career. At a Queen’s Club event before Wimbledon, she said, “Of course, she is the greatest and such an inspiration. Getting to see her in person and being on tour while she’s playing is something I’ll never forget.”
Serena came back to the WTA Tour for some grass-court events after taking a break from tennis in 2022. She played doubles with Venus at Queen’s and Berlin, then lost a close first-round match at Wimbledon after getting a wildcard.
It’s not clear if Eala will get a chance to play doubles with Serena herself, though she has already partnered with Venus twice in 2026. Together, they reached the quarter-finals in Bad Homburg and made it to the Round of 32 in Toronto.
Eala also praised Venus a lot, especially for her strong mindset and her work pushing for equal prize money alongside Serena.
“Playing doubles with Venus this year taught me a lot about her mental strength on court,” said Eala. “I also learned about what she and Serena fought for to get equal pay and how much they’ve had to work through to get where they are. It’s so inspiring and keeps me humble.”
Venus called Eala “a world star” after their recent doubles match in Toronto, which is a great sign for Eala’s chances of playing with Serena in the future.
It’s still unclear when Serena will play again or if she’ll retire soon. Meanwhile, Eala is set to represent the Philippines at the Asian Games and will compete at the final WTA 1000 event in Wuhan in 2026.
Eala is also working to improve her game, with John McEnroe recently advising her to fix a weak shot if she wants to win future Grand Slams.