MANILA, Philippines — Filipino fans rallied behind their champion Alex Eala in her historic Wimbledon run.
As the first Filipino singles player to make the London grass major fourth round, Eala had people coming in droves in watch parties during her tear.
Not a few people even tagged her as the 'nation unifier'.
Eala brushed off the label, saying she is simply happy that her work inspires a whole nation.
"Sometimes it's hard to take myself that seriously and I'm happy that I have a positive impact on the community here," said Eala in an interview with ABS-CBN News on Monday.
"I'm so proud to be Pinoy and I think that's one thing that I share with everybody is the love of being Pinoy and the pride of being Pinoy."
Eala said she makes it a point to represent the Filipinos in the best way possible wherever she is.
"I do my best to showcase, I know that I'm in a lot of international stages and I'm the only Filipina in a lot of the stages that I'm in so I try my best to showcase the best of us Filipinos and hope for the best."
After her media availabitlity and meet-and-greet with fans in Taguid Eala went to Malacañang where she was feted for her historic Wimbledon campaign.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr conferred a presidential citation to recognize her groundbreaking campaign in the third Grand Slam of the year.
That tear saw Eala beat Mexican Renata Zarazua, Maya Joint, and defending champ Iga Swiatek before falling to Jasmine Paolini in the fourth round.
Eala's campaign also lifted her from No. 32 to a new career-high No. 28 in the latest WTA rankings on Monday.
