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The Philippines has been swept up in tennis fever after 21-year-old rising star Alex Eala delivered a historic win, drawing praise from the president who hosted a reception in her honour.
On Monday, Eala became the first player from the Philippines to win a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour-level singles title.
Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos released a message on social media on Tuesday congratulating Eala on “yet another historic achievement”, adding: “You continue to redefine what is possible for Philippine tennis and inspire countless young Filipinos to dream without limits.”
Eala not only beat the top-ranked player, Jessica Pegula, to win the title in Washington DC, but also did so coming back from behind in a match spread over two days due to rain delays.
Pagula said after the match: “This is the best Monday final crowd I’ve seen ... To all the Filipino fans that came out, and have supported, you guys are helping to grow tennis around the world, and I appreciate that. Being a female athlete, being in tennis, we love to see that growth.”
Signs in the stadium during the match expressed what Eala means to the country, including one reading: “Alex you make us proud to be Filipino”.
Filipinos had already been celebrating Eala’s historic run at Wimbledon in July, going farther than any Filipino woman at a grand slam championship and upsetting the defending champion, Iga Swiatek, in straight sets on Centre Court.
Eala came home to a hero’s welcome, with Marcos hosting a reception in her honour at Malacanang Palace in Manila, and a nation that had previously paid little attention to the sport now obsessed with it.
She has inspired droves of Filipinos to take up tennis, which has seen classes, camps and courts fully booked, leading clubs to upgrade old courts, and increased support for the tennis federation.
Speaking about this rise in popularity at a press conference, Eala said: “Everyone comes up to me whenever I go back to Manila saying it’s so hard to get courts … that’s a good thing because when I was younger the courts were empty, nobody was playing.”
The Philippines’ sporting interests have historically been all about the “three Bs”: basketball, billiards and boxing. But now fans and supporters of Eala have been packing local venues and public spaces with watch parties, often staying up to cheer through the night on the other side of the world.
The Philippines has not had a prominent sporting superstar to throw its support behind since boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, who applauded Eala as “our new champion” on social media, lauding her Washington comeback for showing the “Filipino heart” .
Washington’s tournament director Mark Ein said interest in Eala had been unmatched. He told a media conference, “over the last month the ticketing team says at least 80%, if not more, of the requests in this tournament are about when is Alex Eala playing?”
Tennis is a sport often dominated by players whose home countries – the United States, Great Britain, and France – can afford the tens of millions of dollars annually it takes to develop young talent. The Philippines does not have that infrastructure, and tennis remained a sport for the elite, with courts mostly found in wealthy areas.
Eala comes from a prominent family, but she learned to play tennis on painted-over basketball courts in Quezon City before moving to Spain to attend the Rafa Nadal Academy on a scholarship at the age of 13.
Eala is inspiring young Filipinos from more modest backgrounds to find the means to play but has spoken about the need to improve access to public courts and equipment, as well as the condition of those that are available.
It was only during her Wimbledon she truly appreciated the impact she is having on millions of Filipinos, she told the palace reception according to the state news agency.
“I’m so grateful that I am able to share my triumphs … with the country,” Eala said. “As we say, tagumpay nating lahat (this is our victory).”
