By Tracy Cabrera
I don’t believe a champion is the biggest, baddest, meanest dude in the world. I think the champion is like a warrior; it’s like the head knight or lead samurai: humble men of integrity, respect and honor that treat people kindly.
— American former MMA fighter Jon Dwight Jones
I’m 10 years past being a senior citizen and I’v certainly many of our sports elite
from our legendary boxing icon Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Pacquiao, bowling’s hall of famer Rafael ‘Paeng’ Nepomuceno, billiards’ the Magician Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes ang kumpare Francisco ‘Django’ Bustamante and Olympian weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo, to name a few.
And I’ve even brushed elbows with some from foreign lands—boxing’s ‘Greatest’ Muhammad Ali and his nemesis Smokin’ Joseph ‘Joe’ Frazier, the ‘Black Widow’ Jeanette Lee, and Grand Slam champions Venus Ebony Star Williams and ‘The Spaniard’ Rafael ‘Rafa’ Nadal Parera, who is by the way the 1st Marquess of Llevant de Mallorca.
It’s really a privilege to able to meet these heroes and legends in sports and what more greater honor than to meet now with our very own pride on the tennis court, world’s number 20 Alexandra ‘Alex’ Eala, when she returns to the Philippines to compete in this year’s Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 125 Philippine Open.
But the idea of coming up to her and say our praises for her (and perhaps give her a hug) would surely be remote as more than 20,000 tickets have already been sold for ‘Alex Eala Live: Game. Set. Celebrate’, ahead of her Decrmber homecoming at the Philippine Arena.
Eala will face Indonesia’s Janice Tjen in a match that organizers aim to make the largest one-day tennis event in Philippine history.
“I can’t wait to walk out at the Philippine Arena, hear the roar of the crowd and take on Janice on December 8,” Eala enthused.
And I can’t wait either to see her perform.
According to Irene Francisco, managing director of Tatler Philippines, which is the main organizers behind ‘Alex Eala Live’, the ticket sales reflect strong interest in seeing Eala compete at home.
Michel Lamunière, chairman and chief-executive-officer of Tatler Group, said organizers are targeting 50,000 attendees.
“We always believed there was an appetite to see Alex play at home, but seeing more than 20,000 people already secure their place tells us that this event means something to Filipino tennis fans,” Lamunière shared enthusiastically.
Months back, I tried to see Alex in a meet-and-greet event at the Glorietta Activity Center but, despite me being a loyal subscriber of Globe Telecom which organized the activity, I wasn’t allowed entry because of unforeseen issues.
So, at my age of 70, I guess it would be asking too much to try once again to personally greet our country’s pride when she’s back here in Manila—this appears to be ‘hoping against hope’.
