After turning heads with a quarter-final appearance at the Dubai Tennis Championships and back-to-back round-of-16 appearances at the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open, Alex Ila has capped off his swing on hard courts with a bang.
This performance propelled her to a career-high No. 29 in the WTA rankings, further strengthening her steady rise on tour.
However, as the points from the Miami semifinals from the previous year disappeared, she fell back to 45th place. This is an inevitable correction, but not necessarily a setback in her overall trajectory.
As the Tour transitions to clay courts, its climb encounters familiar hurdles. And last season revealed just how difficult the roads were for Ila.
In clay swing, he was defeated in the round of 16 of the WTA 125 tournament in Oeiras, and then lost early in bigger tournaments, including a three-set thriller against Iga Świętek in the round of 64 at the Madrid Open and a round of 128 at the Italian Open.
Ila’s Grand Slam debut at the French Open ended in a first-round loss to Emiliana Arango.
Overall, she only had a 2-4 record on clay courts in 2025, a stark contrast to her much better performance on hard courts.
But if there’s any reason to believe in a comeback, it’s in her lineage and the work she continues to do behind the scenes.
The Filipino tennis sensation recently returned to training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in preparation for her swing on clay, doubling down on the very environment that shaped her game.
Being shaped by the philosophy of Rafael Nadal, widely regarded as the greatest clay court player of all time, ultimately gave Ila both the technical foundation and the mental framework to transfer her game to the water.
As the clay campaign begins at the 2026 Linz Open, this foundation is moving from theory to application and we will test whether the lessons learned are starting to stick.
More than just results, this stretch will be about showing visible improvement with longer rallies, smarter shot selection and better feel on the clay. She will play in more competitive tournaments such as the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, the Mutua Madrid Open and the Italian Open.
She also hopes this build-up will be enough for a breakthrough performance in Ila’s second go-around at Roland Garros.
In many ways, this part of the season will be a measure for Ela of not just where she is, but how far she’s come.
And if these subtle improvements start to translate into deeper runs, this stage could mark the next step in her evolution, and it could be the step that moves her closer to becoming a complete and all-out threat on the WTA Tour.
