How much does Philippine tennis star Alex Eala have to earn to keep playing as a pro?

MANILA – A few weeks ago, 19-year-old Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala scored the best finish of her young career so far with a semifinal run at the 2025 Miami Open.

Not only is that the best she’s done (and we’re sure she’s going to do much better in the future), but that finish alone has earned the No. 72-ranked Eala a purse of $332,160, which is around P19 million in local currency—no small amount for sure. That purse alone is more than half of her total winnings in her entire career prior to this, which stood at $498,901, or around P28 million.

To say that the amount is life-changing would be an understatement; however, in the world of professional sports and everything that needs to be done and bought to maintain a pro career, it’s but a drop in the bucket.

Playing for scraps
An article by Business Insider found that lower-ranking pro athletes will have to pay for their own gear, training facilities, travel, accommodations, and food just to play in tournaments that could boost their profiles. Many will spend thousands of dollars and turn up with a huge financial loss, with as little as $25,000 (around P1.4 million) being split among top winners.

As the athlete climbs the rankings and the pressure gets more grueling, they will have to invest in support professionals such as more dedicated tennis and strength and conditioning coaches, a physical therapist, a nutritionist, and a sports psychologist, for starters.

A sample breakdown of a year’s expenses for a Top 50 tennis pro (which Eala isn’t far from at No. 72) is as follows, according to a tennis coach on Quora:

Travel at the higher levels of play can be anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000 (P2.84 million to P8.52 million) per year. There is a lot of traveling involved, especially to top destinations around the world. Coming from the Philippines compounds this challenge further for Eala.
Food can be at least $5,000 per year. That’s around P283,915, and if or when Eala brings more people along in her entourage, she will also need to pay for their food.
Coaching depends on the rank of the player, and coaches usually earn commissions according to their player’s performance. A typical coach can go for another $50,000 per year, plus bonuses—all coming out of the player’s pocket.
Racket stringing and customization can be anywhere from $5,000 to $40,000 (P2.27 million) a year. This essentially makes sure that the player’s gear is in top playing condition.
Other miscellaneous expenses, which could be anything.
All in all, that’s around $100,000 to $2 million (around P5.68 million to P113.53 million) in annual expenses. That goes to show you how insane it is to be a top prospect, and why we only have one Alex Eala right now.

Eala will likely have already been spending on all or most of those, and the P19 million bag alone will allow her to keep paying for her local support, maybe for around a year at most. But that’s why she hasn’t rested on her laurels after the big Miami Open finish, as she’s now turning heads at her next tournaments—currently at the Mutua Madrid Open where she’s gearing up for a rematch against former world number one Iga Swiatek whom she beat in Miami.

With hundreds of players in its ranks, the Women’s Tennis Association barely pays lower-ranking pro athletes enough, and Eala’s breakthrough at the Miami Open means that she’s moved far up the pay scale. However, she will need to remain consistent at that level to keep earning that kind of money. More brands will also likely (hopefully) take notice and get on the train before waiting for a top finish.

This old song again
We don’t need to reiterate how important financial support is for our up-and-coming athletes. Far too often, the Philippine system treats aspirants as people that need to prove themselves worthy of support—in that our blue chippers must succeed despite the lack of support—instead of talent that needs to be cultivated first before we expect any major wins from them. It feels like a weird kind of hazing; being a Filipino athlete really is playing on hard mode.

Eala is lucky for coming from a background that allows her to get to the pro level from scratch; we don’t begrudge her for that, but many other athletes in the Philippines aren’t so fortunate. At the same time, this is a drum we’ve banged on for so long, every time a Filipino athlete transcends the pitiful lack of support that’s given to any sport that isn’t men’s basketball.

I personally don’t know what else there is to say, or who else needs to win on a global stage, or how many more Olympic medals need to be won before the people with the money do something about it.

People would much rather take their opportunistic selfies with the winners instead of lending their power at the grassroots. Still, I look forward to the rise of Eala and many more just like her because between all our major wins on the world’s stage, I believe Filipinos can really do it.

It’s just time for the system to start believing in us, too.