From the court to culture, tennis sensation Alex Eala is serving up a taste of the Filipino language for her non-Filipino fans.
On Monday, March 9, Tennis Channel shared a video of the Pinay athlete giving a quick Filipino lesson teaching six words and phrases.
“I’ll keep it simple,” Alex said.
She taught the words and phrases “mabuhay,” “mahal kita,” “ay nako,” “laban,” “isa pa,” and “kaya mo ’to,” explaining their meanings and demonstrating how to use them in context.
“When I talk to myself on court, I’ll say, ‘isa pa.’ That means, one more or ‘kaya mo ‘to.’ You can do it,” the athlete said.
“I have a lot of phrases that I tell myself. There’s a lot of things you can say,” she added with a smile.
Alex Eala gave us a Filipino lesson 😍🇵🇭#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/4EUlyIsH2Y
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 8, 2026
The post has garnered 130,950 views, 4,900 likes, 928 shares, and 28 replies on X (formerly Twitter).
“I can see she’s an ambassador. She brings Filipinos together. Laban, Alex!” an online user commented with emojis.
“HAHAHAHA, the heck. Ay nako!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA, baliw,” another wrote, reacting to Alex’s chosen phrases.
“Oh, I didn’t know about ‘kaya mo ‘to,’ maybe I’ll use it!!” a different X user commented.
“This is why it is so easy to love and root for her. She embraces her culture and community so genuinely, and it shows!!” another said.
“This made me realize that my self-talk is generally negative — I would’ve added ‘ang t*nga’ (how dumb) and ‘ano ka ba!’ on the list. Shall strive to be more like Alex Eala and tell myself ‘kaya mo, ‘yan’ more,” a different X user wrote.
Alex is competing at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, one of tennis’ most prestigious tournaments. She advanced to the round of 16 after her opponent, Coco Gauff of the United States, retired with an arm injury.
The World No. 32 Filipino athlete will face World No. 14 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic on Wednesday, March 11, for a spot in the quarterfinals.
