MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala has been drawing Filipino fans wherever she competes at the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour, seemingly turning almost every city into a home tournament.
Not even that could have prepared the 21-year-old for her Wimbledon opener against Mexican Renata Zarazua at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club Court 12 early Wednesday in Manila.
Filipino fans came in droves and packed the stands, giving Eala a de facto home crowd which she didn't think she'd get at Wimbledon.
"I was really surprised. Well, the Filipinos keep surprising me in good ways," said Eala post-match.
"I know how notoriously difficult it is to get tickets to this event so to have what I would call a full house of almost Filipinos is amazing.
"I never would have thought that at Wimbledon I would have like a home crowd so super thankful and I really enjoyed that."
Eala made sure Filipino fans will leave the venue in high spirits after posting a dominant win against Zarazua, 6-1, 6-2.
The lefty netter became the first Filipino player to win a Wimbledon singles match in the Open Era or since 1968 in the process.
"I'm very happy with my first round," said Eala.
"I think that I played really well and kept the intensity throughout the whole match so I'm hoping to keep this momentum going throughout the week."
Eala arranged a rematch against her last year's Eastbourne Open final tormentor Maya Joint of Australia in the second round.
Joint defeated the returning women's tennis best Serena Williams in their first round clash, 6-3, 6(6)-7, 6-3.
"I had a really great match with Maya last year so I'd love to have the chance to improve on some things that I could have improved from that match," said Eala.
