Alex Eala reveals how childhood hero Sharapova shaped her grit on the court

MANILA — Alex Eala grew up watching Maria Sharapova fight through matches with a trademark intensity.

Years later, the Filipina is turning the qualities she once admired in her childhood idol into a weapon of her own.

Finally speaking with the five-time Grand Slam champion for the first time on the “Pretty Tough” podcast on Wednesday, Eala recalled how Sharapova’s reactions between points first shaped her understanding of mental toughness.

“When I watched you play, it’s kind of it’s really those reactions and the ‘come on,'” Eala said. 

“You always had this expression on your face that was just so serious and so like I don’t know, but almost angry,” she added with a laugh. 

Eala also noticed the smaller details like  Sharapova adjusting her strings, hitting herself and immediately resetting before the next point.

“That was for me, that’s grit, and then when you say ‘come on,’ so intentionally. So I really admired that,” Eala said. 

Now, Eala is beginning to recognize those same battles in her own matches.

She admitted that when her expression drops, her level can follow. The harder part, she said, is trying to escape that slump when she already knows she is in it.

“You hit a low and you know you’re in the low and you want so much to get out of it,” Eala said.

That is when she starts searching for solutions, moving her feet, focusing on her contact point or trying to play with more energy.

But when none of those adjustments work, Eala said she has to confront the frustration itself.

“When the facial expressions start to quiver and they start to do that. And you have to hold it together,” she said. 

Sharapova understood that battle well. During her playing career, she was conscious of how her body language could affect both her opponent and her own mindset.

“I was very aware that my external expression would influence how the opponent thinks about what to do in my state of mind,” Sharapova said.

“And it would fuel them, give them confidence if I wasn’t stable, if I wasn’t comfortable and confident in my expression,” she added.

Eala now applies a similar awareness on court. She knows that even becoming too conscious of the crowd can be a sign that her focus is slipping.

“Once I start to think about the crowd, that’s how I know,” Eala said. “I’m like, ‘Alex, you have to hop back into it.'”

Sharapova’s influence is only one part of Eala’s evolving approach to resilience.

She also drew from Rafael Nadal, whose grit she associates less with composure and more with fighting through every point.

Eala admired Nadal’s willingness to keep extending the fight, even when the match demanded more physically and mentally.

Between Sharapova’s controlled intensity and Nadal’s relentless refusal to concede, Eala is building her own definition of handling the pressure with grit.

“I’ve had so many moments like that this year and I’m so grateful… And it’s crazy that I’m at the start of my career, but it’s just all of these moments are so amazing,” Eala said.