DEFINITELY premature to a sport that had never made as much noise in the country before Alex Eala, the new demographic of fans she brought with her is as young as her rising career.
It’s only been less than three years since the 21-year-old started joining the pros, and even less time since she began playing regularly on the WTA Tour.
Yet, in several stages, she sold out seats. In 'Slams, Masters, and a couple of other tournaments.
READ: All are welcome to join Filipinos in all-out support of Eala
And it’s not as if Eala is just another player passing through the record books.
She has been rewriting them.
From becoming the first Filipina to reach the semifinals of a WTA 1000, to making the deepest Grand Slam run by a Filipina, to becoming the first Filipino to win a WTA Tour-level singles title, Eala has consistently taken Philippine tennis to stages it had never reached before.
Just last week, she took it one step further, winning the WTA 500 in Washington, DC, for the country’s first-ever WTA Tour title.
Even if Eala’s rise is already enough to explain the attention, the phenomenon powered by supporters from a third-world country has raised brows, not necessarily in criticism, but in genuine wonder among long-time tennis mainstays.
Why is this happening?
At every chance, Eala herself tries her best to make it known to mankind, to make it make sense.
But its root really isn’t quite that deep. It’s simply a reflection of a common Filipino trait.
In a country that takes pride in even the slightest Filipino-foreign talent, not just in sports, the clamor to love a ‘homegrown’ star like Eala shouldn’t be surprising.
And Eala herself understands it.
“You can see, I’m kind of like a ‘drop in the ocean’ when it comes to Filipinos and their pride for their culture and where they come from,” she explained to the international press covering the WTA 1000 National Bank Open in Toronto on Monday.
“Me, I do a lot to represent my country and I’m very proud of it. You see, the stadium is full of people who do the same thing,” she continued. “That shows you the kind of people we are and how supportive we are of each other.”
Analysts and commentators have described it in many different ways, even comparing it to the kind of following greats like Roger Federer and Serena Williams enjoyed in their prime.
But for Eala, it’s simple.
Filipinos are tight-knit.
There’s that.
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