Tennis standout Alex Eala has been named to Forbes’ 2026 “30 Under 30 Asia” list, headlining a new generation of GenZ talent cited for disrupting the region’s sports and entertainment landscapes.
The 20-year-old left-hander leads a contingent of nine Filipinos recognized across the annual index’s 10 categories.
Featured in the Entertainment & Sports division, Forbes categorized Eala among “Asia’s next icons” who are actively “rewriting the playbook.”
The inclusion follows Eala’s milestone climb into the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Top 50 last year. The publication noted her ascent has galvanized “enthusiastic Filipino-diaspora crowds” at international tour stops and re-energized tennis interest in her home country.
“The support has been incredible,” Eala said. “Tennis can sometimes feel quiet and serious, so having that energy makes it special.”
The 300 final listees were whittled down from a pool of nearly 4,000 regional nominations by Forbes Asia’s editorial teams and an independent panel of industry experts.
The 2026 class spans 18 countries and territories across the Asia-Pacific. India secured the largest market share with 78 entries, followed by China with 46, Australia with 38, and Japan with 32. Indonesia, Singapore, and South Korea recorded 18 entries each.
Eala was the highest-earning Filipino tennis player in history last year, with prize money totaling $876,000, according to Forbes, citing her representative.
Her endorsement earnings, including deals with Nike, French sports equipment maker Babolat, and food conglomerate NutriAsia, surpassed $1 million in 2025 and are projected to rise to $3 million this year, the report said.
Her world ranking climbed to a career-high No. 29 in March 2026, making her the highest-ranked Filipino player in the modern era, before slipping to No. 44 in April.
Forbes described Eala’s career as “a volley of firsts,” including becoming the first Filipina to defeat two Top 10 players at the Miami Open in March 2025, reach a WTA Tour final at the Eastbourne International in June 2025, and win a Grand Slam singles main-draw match at the U.S.
Open in August 2025. She also captured the women’s singles title at the Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok last year, the Philippines’ first since 1999.
Roughly a quarter of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2026 cohort are women, with an average age of 26. The class collectively raised about $1 billion in funding from leading regional investors.
A total of 19 researchers and scientists were named in this year’s list, accounting for two-thirds of the Healthcare & Science category, Forbes said. Their work spans materials science to artificial intelligence, including efforts to improve large language model training and reduce model hallucinations.
Joining Eala in the entertainment and sports category is Filipino pop star Zack Tabudlo, whose songs “Pano” and “Give Me Your Forever” went viral after their 2021 release, making him the most-streamed Filipino artist in 2022, the magazine said, citing Spotify.
A former contestant on The Voice Kids in 2014, Tabudlo went on a Southeast Asia tour in 2024 and signed with Mercury Records under Universal Music Group in 2025. In September, he returned to the show as a coach, where his mentee Sofia Mallares went on to win the competition, according to the publication.
Other Filipinos included in the list span the retail and e-commerce category.
Pauline Dizon and Adrian Jumangit, co-founders of FAN Connection, were recognized for building a fandom-based business focused on merchandise licensing, bookings, and live events.
Also named is Kharl Christian Yeung, co-founder and COO of Amico Innovations, a pet food company that was acquired in majority by Monde Nissin in 2024.
Rounding out the Filipino entries is Martin Joaquin Palaña, co-founder of GoRocky, a digital platform launched in 2022 aimed at destigmatizing men’s health issues such as erectile dysfunction and hair loss by connecting patients with licensed doctors and pharmacies confidentially.
Brandon Angelo Wong and Raphael Sevilla, together with Paul Soliman (over 30), co-founded BayaniChain Tech, a blockchain systems developer that works with governments and companies to improve transparency, secure data, and reduce corruption.
Also known as BYC, the company has partnered with the Department of Budget and Management, the first Philippine government agency to use blockchain to upload and verify key budget documents. BayaniChain has also supported efforts to advance Philippine legislation aimed at applying blockchain technology to safeguard public funds.
Steph Naval, a software engineer and psychologist-in-training, founded Empath, a social enterprise and mental health technology platform inspired by her own experience. The platform provides affordable online counseling, psychotherapy, and psychiatric consultations to schools, workplaces, and non-profit organizations. Empath has served more than 40,000 Filipinos and also offers training in psychological first aid, crisis response, and mental health education to help build frontline capacity.
Saje Miguel Molato founded Siklab, a consulting firm launched in 2016 aimed at helping young people become more globally competitive, inspired by the introduction of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Siklab works with government, non-profit, and private sector partners on education, skills development, and climate programs. It has reached more than 200,000 youth, provided literacy classes to over 15,000 children, and sent 200 youth delegates to international conferences, according to Forbes.
Emmanuel Mirus Ponon is the founder of the ASEAN Youth Advocates Network (AYAN), which encourages young people across 10 Southeast Asian countries to take part in policymaking, peacebuilding, and sustainable development. AYAN has reached more than 350,000 youth and has helped elevate youth voices in forums including ASEAN, APEC, TEDx, and the United Nations, according to Forbes.
Aside from Eala, the other Asian athletes on the list include 21-year-old golfer Shannon Tan, the first Singaporean to win the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit in 2025; Chinese hurdler Wu Yanni, one of Asia’s fastest sprinters and a rising figure in track and field after recording China’s best-ever time in the women’s 100-meter hurdles in 2024; and Australian sprinter Gout Gout, who has drawn comparisons to world record-holder Usain Bolt after setting an Oceanian record in the 200-meter race in 2025 with a time of 20.02 seconds.
