Filipino pole vault star EJ Obiena came to the defense of Alex Eala, who’s been facing criticism over her recent string of early exits.
In a lengthy post on social media, Obiena spoke broadly about the nature of competing in professional sports and how ‘failure is not synonymous with losing.’
‘So asking if Alex’s string of losses suggests she has failed is the wrong question (or for any national athlete for that matter, yours truly included),’ the two-time Olympian wrote on Monday.
‘There is no such thing as failure in attempting, and in sports, there are good days and bad days, and some days you win and some days you lose, which is what gives sports its beauty and toughness.’
The 21-year-old Eala has hit a rough patch recently, losing to unseeded Russian Tatiana Prozorova in the Singapore Open round of 16 and Chinese qualifier Shi Han at the Wuhan Open round of 64 on Tuesday.
She also crashed out of the semifinals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which led to a bronze medal finish despite being the tournament top seed.
Eala’s recent struggles, however, don’t diminish the banner season she’s having.
The Filipino tennis sensation started the year at No. 49 in the WTA rankings and climbed to a career-high 18th in August just a few weeks after capturing her maiden WTA crown by beating then-World No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the Washington Open final.
It was also during this season that Eala made more Grand Slam history after reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon.
‘Pulling out knives on social media I can tell you won’t help. If you want to help Alex, me, or any of our athletes, pick them up when they are down. Kicking someone when they are having a bad day is poor recipe for getting the desired result you seek,’ said the 30-year-old Obiena, who successfully defended his Asian Games title last month after a record-breaking performance.
‘Ask yourself: ‘How do I want to be supported when I have a bad day?’ Then act accordingly. Some days we win. Some days we lose.’