Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong and Phillipines’ Alexandra Eala, both of whom trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy in their early years, set the Miami Open on fire with their respective breakthroughs this week. The two young upstarts are also in a relationship, which makes their achievement even more special.
19-year-old Eala, who graduated from Rafael Nadal’s famed tennis academy in Mallorca two years ago, made her tour-level debut in 2021 but mainly competes on the ITF circuit. The Filipino announced herself at the WTA level by reaching the semifinals of the Workday Canberra International earlier this year. She has now gone a step ahead, achieving the best tour-level result of her young career thus far.
Having received a wildcard in the women’s singles competition at the 2025 Miami Open, the World No. 140 picked up her first-ever 1000-level victory by beating local favorite Katie Volynets 6-3, 7-6(3) in her first-round match. The teenager then punched well above her weight to down 25th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko 7-6(2), 7-5 on Friday (March 21) to reach the third round of the Florida event.
TrendingThe occasion clearly meant a lot to Alexandra Eala, as she cried happy tears following her victory. The Filipino will next face reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys for a place in the Round of 16 in Miami. Even if she loses, the teen phenom can take pride in her and her boyfriend Coleman Wong’s campaign this week.
20-year-old Wong, meanwhile, has played on the ATP Tour semi-regularly over the last year, mostly bringing his talents to the Challenger circuit. The Rafa Nadal Academy trainee had begun his 2025 season on a rough note, dropping eight of his 13 competitive outings (including qualifying matches) before arriving in Miami.
However, having received a wildcard at the Florida event just like his girlfriend Eala, the Hong Kongese hit a rich vein of form this week. He began his campaign by beating Germany Daniel Altmaier 6-4, 6-3 earlier this week. The 6’3 baseliner saved his best for his second-round match against 13th-seeded Ben Shelton, overcoming the latter by a scoreline of 7-6(3), 2-6, 7-6(5) to reach the third round of the 1000-level event on Saturday (March 22).
Rafael Nadal congratulates Coleman Wong after Miami Open 2R victory: “A historic win for Hong Kong”
Coleman Wong has trained at Rafael Nadal’s academy since he was 17 years old, and has hit with the 22-time Major winner on multiple occasions. On Saturday (March 22), the Spaniard took to his X (formerly Twitter) account to express pride in the World No. 182’s Miami Open run on behalf of the entire Mallorca-based academy.
“There is a lot of effort behind these victories. We are very proud of you, Coleman! Historic win for Hong Kong,” Nadal wrote on X in his repost of RNA’s post about Wong.
Wong, who rose to a career-high ranking of 128th in the world last November, will next face Australia’s Adam Walton for a berth in the fourth of the Masters-level event in Florida.
