Thirteen-time Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal had a few great words for Filipina teen tennis sensation Alex Eala for clinching the juniors world No. 2 ranking.

“Vamosssss. Very happy for you and keep up the hard work and great results,” tweeted Nadal in reply to the Rafael Nadal Academy’s post on Eala’s career-high ranking.  (RECAP: How Alex Eala marched to a historic French Open semis stint)

The 15-year-old Eala is a scholar of the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca since 2018. (FAST FACTS: Who is teen tennis sensation Alex Eala?)

In an interview with Rappler, the Filipina tennis prodigy revealed that she has been mentored by Toni Nadal, the uncle and former coach of the men’s tennis’ world No. 2 and 20-time Grand Slam champion.

“I often train with Toni Nadal, who comes on court and coaches me and the other girls alongside all of the other coaches which is amazing and they really create an amazing and healthy training environment,” shared Eala about her life in the Academy.

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Although the King of Clay doesn’t directly mentor the Academy students, Eala’s brother Miko already got a chance to hit with Nadal.

In two years of training and studying at the Academy, Eala qualified for the 2019 US Open juniors main draw and won her first Grand Slam title in the 2020 Australian Open juniors doubles tournament with Indonesian Priska Nugroho.

Eala kicked off 2020 with a world No. 9 ranking and immediately climbed to world No. 4 after a title romp in Melbourne.

After making history in the 2020 French Open by becoming the first Filipina to see action in the last 4 of a junior Grand Slam, Eala nailed a top 2 world ranking in the juniors circuit. – Rappler.com