Pinay tennis superstar Alex Eala said being imaginative helped her develop into the player she is now.
Eala, who is set to play in the US Open women's singles tournament, said in an interview with Forbes that was how she was taught when she started playing tennis at age six.
"I think I've always had a strong imagination," she said. "When I would train or compete as a kid, my grand father and my dad would tell me to imagine playing in these environment like the Slams which I'm playing in now."
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"So it's really surreal to actually live it out cause I've been imagining it for so long."
She has come a long way since then, pulling off surprise victories against high ranked oppositions and former champions and pocketing titles in the Birmingham and Guadalajara Open.
Eala later achieved tennis history by becoming the first Filipino to win a WTA Tour singles crown in the Mubadala DC Open.
The 21-year old is now also competing in the Grand Slams like the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. She is seeded number 17 in the upcoming US Open.
"The dreams remain the same but of course dreams evolve, but I think I set a really high one when I was really young," said Eala.
"Now it seems more achievable... the more into tour, the more I realize it's difficult to achieve set goals. I feel the better I get, the steeper the mountain is. I'm just trying day by day to climb that mountain and I'm kind of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It's quite distant but there's a light."
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Eala added she is also delighted to get the support of her fellow Filipinos who crowd every venue she plays these days.
She, however, admitted that popularity comes with a price.
"It's not that I don't have privacy it's a little bit less now and it's something I have to get used to," said Eala."The training especially is something I have a difficult time getting used to or adjusting to.
"I've always been comfortable playing matches in front of crowds and because that's kind of when I'm so locked in and I'm just in that zone. But when I'm training it's time for me to become vulnerable and work on my weaknesses and it's a place where I basically build myself of and that's something I have to adjust to."