Eala, Lys honored at home for their influence and media profile

As top-ranked players from their respective nations, Alexandra Eala and Eva Lys are generating a lot of buzz back home for their efforts on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. But this spring, the spotlight on the pair of good friends was magnified when they were both selected for prestigious honors by regional and national media outlets.

Eala was recently named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 Asia list for sports and entertainment, while Lys was named as one of the Top 50 most influential people in Germany by Die Welt, Politico and Business Insider.

In an article titled "The Gen Z Athletes And Music Artists Rewriting The Playbook," Eala is credited with getting "Filipinos fired up about tennis" as a result of her exploits in the past year, which included a WTA 1000 semifinal in Miami, a WTA 1000 quarterfinal in Dubai, and a runner-up finish in Eastbourne last summer. She capped 2025 by taking the women’s singles title at the Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, a first for the Philippines since 1999, and the outlet dubbed her part of “the next generation of talent -- on court and the screen."

To this end, Eala has benefitted from fervent fan support in her first full year competing at tour-level tournaments, a fact she says is "incredible."

“Tennis can sometimes feel quiet and serious, so having that energy makes it special," Eala told Forbes in an email.

Lys, meanwhile, landed on a "Power List" jointly-developed by three media outlets that is "firmly focused on the future" and made up of individuals that they claim "demonstrate that hard work, risk-taking, and perseverance pay off" and who are "moving the country forward."

Lys was Germany's top-ranked player in the PIF WTA Rankings for much of the 12 months and is currently the German No. 3 and ranked World No. 81. In the last year-plus, the 24-year-old reached a career-high position of World No. 39 thanks to a fourth-round effort at the 2025 Australian Open, and a quarterfinal berth at the WTA 1000 China Open last fall, where she scored her first-ever Top 10 win over Elena Rybakina.

Lys, who recently won her first main-draw match at the French Open, attended a dinner in Berlin on June 3 with other honorees, and wrote on social media that her honor was "a very big reminder that showing up, speaking up, and taking responsibility can take you places you never expected."

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