INDIAN WELLS, California — Long traces had already fashioned exterior of Stadium 3 six hours earlier than the begin of Alexandra Eala‘s second-round match in opposition to Dayana Yastremska at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday.
Holding Filipino flags and sporting shirts that learn “Alexandra Eala fan club,” lots of of enthusiastic followers seemed determined to make their manner inside to get a glimpse of the 20-year-old sensation. And there have been nonetheless two matches to be performed earlier than Eala took the court docket.
Even when delays pushed the match till late in the chilly desert night, making it the newest beginning match of the day, a lot of Eala’s devoted followers remained in the stands, coated in winter coats and blankets, to cheer her on. After three hard-fought units, Eala was victorious, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, simply earlier than the clock struck midnight and the nonetheless sizable crowd roared in ovation. A “Laban Alex!” signal — which means “Fight Alex” in Tagalog — was in the entrance row.
And what a debut it’s #AlexandraEala | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/BwLx82cNnt
— wta (@WTA) March 7, 2026
It was simply the newest cease of the rising tennis equal of the “Eras Tour” — the “Eala Tour” if you’ll. Eala has shortly turn out to be one in every of the hottest gamers in the sport, drawing hordes of followers, many for the first time, to tennis tournaments round the world. A shock semifinal run as a wild card at the Miami Open final yr, together with wins over Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys, put her on the map, and she or he has turn out to be a can’t-miss fixture at occasions ever since. Her first-round match at the Australian Open in January went viral as a result of the crowd was so overwhelmingly in her favor.
Through all of it, she has continued to make historical past for her native Philippines — together with changing into the highest-ranking Filipina participant and the first from the nation to ever attain a WTA remaining. Currently at No. 32, one off of her career-high rating, she is going to possible crack the high 30 after Friday’s victory. She may enhance even additional however will first must get previous Coco Gauff, the two-time main champion, on Sunday in the Round of 32 as the featured evening match on Stadium 1.
Eala embraces all of it — the stress, the expectations, the highlight. While the fan assist was nothing new, Friday marked her debut at Indian Wells, and it was extra appreciated than ever.
“It means the world to have this community behind me in such a prestigious tournament,” Eala mentioned in the early morning hours on Saturday. “For them to make the effort to stay up late and stay in the cold and cheer me on, so it really added to the feelings and the emotions after the match.”
Eala has lengthy had massive desires. And it did not take lengthy for others to acknowledge her expertise and dream together with her too.
With sports activities like basketball and boxing amongst the hottest in the Philippines, and tennis seen as extra of a area of interest sport with out a lot established success on the international stage, Eala moved as a 13-year-old to Mallorca, Spain, to coach at Rafael Nadal’s academy.
The choice paid off. She reached the world No. 2 junior rating and have become the first Filipino to win a junior main title at the 2022 US Open, addressing the crowd in Tagalog in a speech that went viral. She was simply 16 when she was featured on the cover of Vogue Philippines following her triumph in New York.
She spent most of 2023 and 2024 on the ITF circuit earlier than her phenomenal run in Miami final yr modified all the things. During that occasion, Eala confidently dispatched a slew of former Slam champions — Swiatek, Keys and Jelena Ostapenko — all in straight units. Her infectious pleasure and tearful and heartfelt postmatch interviews solely endeared her additional to the followers.
The lore — and the crowds — grew and grew.
Jessica Pegula had her first expertise in opposition to Eala — and a complete stadium — in the semifinals.
“I played her when she kind of broke out last year in Miami. I’m from there. The whole crowd was against me,” Pegula, the world No. 5, mentioned final month. “I was like, ‘What on earth is going on? Where did these people come from?'”
Nadal, who retired in 2024, was amongst the first to congratulate Eala. The two even practiced collectively in the offseason in November.
Eala, the solely Filipino participant at the moment on both tour, grew to become the first from the nation to crack the high 100 together with her efficiency. She reached her first WTA remaining at Eastbourne simply three months later. Then she grew to become the first participant representing the Philippines to win a Grand Slam match in the Open period after a hard-fought victory over No. 14 seed Clara Tauson at the US Open. Playing close to a neighborhood in Queens with a giant Filipino neighborhood often known as “Little Manila,” Eala credited the devoted and energetic crowd at Grandstand for serving to her all through the match.
“To be Filipino is something I take so much pride in,” Eala said. “I don’t have a home tournament, so to be able to have this community here at the US Open, I’m so grateful they made me feel like I’m home.”
In Dubai final month, Eala misplaced to Gauff, who is often a fan favourite wherever she performs, in the quarterfinals — and Gauff addressed the stifling pro-Eala crowd after the match.
“Thank you guys for coming out here,” she mentioned. “I know you were mostly supporting Alex, but I have to say it’s great to be on a crowded court. I’ve played this tournament for many years, and to see the stadium full, it means a lot.
“Also, I’d wish to thank Alex for bringing a new demographic to the sport. I actually respect it. I feel it is nice.”
In an interview with The National, match director Salah Tahlak credited Eala for an inflow of latest followers at the occasion.
“Alexandra Eala was a good addition to the area. She attracted a new demographic to the tennis, and the stadium was bought out for all her matches. People had been desperately attempting to get tickets, however they had been all gone.
“We’ve never seen anything like it.”
Pegula, the eventual match champion, added she was listening to Eala’s followers in Dubai from her resort room. “You can hear the crowd roaring at night. It’s incredible,” she mentioned.
While it is unimaginable to completely quantify what number of followers purchase tickets for a match to see a particular participant, some numbers can’t be argued.
Eala’s news conference ahead of the Australian Open has 196,000 views — nearly twice that of 24-time main champion Novak Djokovic and greater than six instances the quantity of eventual males’s victor Carlos Alcaraz. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, a two-time champion in Melbourne, recorded 9,000 views for her pre-tournament information convention.
A “day in the life” video that includes Eala posted to the BNP Paribas Open official YouTube channel Thursday has already turn out to be the match’s most-viewed content material of the 2026 match, and it is not shut.
Eala at the moment has nearly a million followers on Instagram — greater than double that of high-ranking gamers like Pegula, Keys and Amanda Anisimova.
And in November, capitalizing on the nation’s surging curiosity in tennis, the WTA introduced the creation of the Philippine Women’s Open, a 125 occasion, that was held in January. It marked the nation’s first WTA match. Tickets for the remaining had been already bought out earlier than Eala had even confirmed her participation.
Eala can have a powerful problem awaiting Sunday in opposition to Gauff. Their assembly in Dubai final month was their first — though they did play doubles collectively final yr at the Italian Open — and Gauff received in a 6-0, 6-2 rout.
But Eala mentioned she was excited for the rematch.
“It was a tough match for me last time,” Eala mentioned on Saturday. “I think she played really well. So all I can do is take the learnings that I have from our last match and try to implement that in our next one.”
She added she was anticipating “a big crowd to rally behind [Gauff] just because she’s amazing” and was taking part in at house. But Eala, who appears to have discovered house irrespective of the place she goes, will after all deliver a crowd of her personal, and one that may do their finest to gasoline her all through.
After Indian Wells, irrespective of when her run finally ends, Eala will then head to Miami to prepare for the match the place all of it started, one yr later.
