Alex Eala's response speaks volumes after what Rafael Nadal said about her latest landmark

Alex Eala has addressed tennis legend Rafael Nadal after he contributed a profile of her as part of her entry to the TIME100 Next List.

The list, compiled by TIME Magazine, acknowledges the world's 'most influential rising stars'.

Eala is one of many names from the world of sport included, with others ranging from Indian cricket wonderkid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Chelsea and USWNT defender Naomi Girma and Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey. Each member of the list has a profile which is submitted by a fellow iconic figure from their sport or field, and Nadal was responsible for penning Eala's profile.

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What Rafael Nadal has said about Alex Eala

Eala is a successful graduate of the Rafa Nadal Academy, which is based in Mallorca, Spain and was set up by Nadal back in 2016.

Nadal told TIME: "Alexandra Eala was the first player I shared a tennis court with after my retirement. 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.

"At just 19, Alex beat three Grand Slam champion players at the 2025 Miami Open. This year, she won the WTA 500 tournament [the Washington Open], becoming the first player from the Philippines to break into the world's top 20.

"And 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."

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Alex Eala responds to Rafael Nadal praise

Eala, who is currently positioned at number 18 in the WTA rankings, recently captured a bronze medal at the Asian Games.

The 21-year-old pulled out of the China Open - a mandatory WTA 1000 event - in order to play in Nagoya, and said she had 'no regrets' after her semi-final defeat to China's Wang Xiyu.

The defeat means Eala has not yet secured automatic qualification for the women's singles event at the 2028 Olympics - she needed to win gold to do so - but only needs to be amongst the top 56 of the WTA rankings by the cut-off point to qualify.

Speaking to the media on Friday, Eala said she was 'honoured' and 'very grateful' that Nadal had taken the time to induct her into TIME's list.

"I'm so incredibly honoured, and even more so that Rafa himself wrote a piece and took the time to do that for me," she said (via ABS-CBN). "I'm so incredibly thankful to TIME, and to Rafa.

"It's a very humbling experience to be among the list of people who are super inspiring. So I'm very grateful."

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She also touched on how she deals with her relatively newfound fame across the world of tennis - which was referenced by Nadal in her profile - and described how she can get 'overwhelmed sometimes'.

"But I understand that it's such a privilege to be in a position that I'm in and to be able to live out the dreams that I've always had as a kid," Eala continued. "So it's something I've had to accept, that it comes with the job and this is how things are. I'm ready for the challenge."