The Alex Eala mania has officially reached Asia.
Eala treated her Asian fans with a jam-packed meet and greet session Thursday before all hell breaks loose for the start of the Asian swing in the WTA500 Singapore Open.
The tournament also serves as Eala’s final build-up for a much-awaited return in the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, where the Filipina sensation looms as the heavy title favorite.
“I have no words. I love you all,” said Eala, who was welcomed by Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Medardo Macaraig, in front of hundreds of fans ahead of her Round 2 duel against Russia’ s Tatiana Prozorova Thursday night at the centercourt of the OCBC Arena inside The Kallang, Singapore’s massive sports hub for all sports disciplines.
Eala, WTA No. 18, headed straight into the Round of 16 due to a first-round bye as the No. 3 seed. A win against Prozorova, WTA No. 180, would push her to the quarterfinals against either China’s Wang Xinyu (WTA No. 40) or Chinese Taipei’s Joanna Garland (WTA No. 168).
Prozorova, 22, beat Belgium’s Sofia Costoulas (WTA No. 152) in Round 1 to advance.
The 21-year-old Filipina pride, now considered as one of the world’s hottest ticket and biggest crowd drawer, has filled every arena and stadium around the world this season during a banner year that catapulted her to inside the world’s Top 20 players, thanks to gallant finishes in the Wimbledon and US Open laced by titles in Birmingham and Washington.
Name it: from the US to Mexico and Canada to the Middle East and Europe, Eala has been the undisputed tennis darling as Filipinos, and new fans from different countries, rally behind her regardless of the results of her matches as per tournament organizers.
And Singapore, one of the Philippines’ neighbors for Eala’s stint closer to home, is no different as organizers had to transfer Eala’s meet and greet from Gate 6 to the bigger Gate 9 of the National Stadium to accomodate more fans.
“I don’t think we can ever be ready. It’s a surprise every day. You hear more and more,” said tournament co-director Laure Ceccarelli on the well-attended Eala event that included a selfie opportunity, autograph signing on tennis balls, caps and Eala shirts, QandA session, as well as an open workout at the nearby tennis court.
“We welcome the Filipino community to support their star player. This is something we create not only for the Singapore community, but for having that connection between athletes and fans,’ added co-tournament director Yazed Osman.
For Singapore, which also got promoted from WTA250 to 500 this year, it’s a sort of homecoming for Eala after being the recipient of the Li Na Inspiration Award there in 2016 and 2017 during her juniors days for the WTA Future Stars event.
But there’s more to it than just that for the lefty sensation, who will seek vengeance in Singapore after after a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Simona Waltert of Switzerland in the qualifying round last year when she was still outside the Top 100.
Stronger, better and fiercer, Eala has high hopes to fulfill that mission for also a good momentum going into the Asiad right after the Singapore Open from September 27 to October 2 in Japan for a tall order of surpassing her two bronze medals in women’s and mixed doubles events in the 2023 Hangzhou Games.
Eala will play in the women’s singles and women’s doubles this time around in Asiad, billed as the player to beat for gold as the highest-ranked WTA player and especially with the absence of reigning gold medalist Zheng Qinwen of China.