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INDIAN WELLS, California -- Long lines had already formed outside of Stadium 3 six hours before the start of Alexandra Eala's second-round match against Dayana Yastremska at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday.
Holding Filipino flags and wearing shirts that read "Alexandra Eala fan club," hundreds of enthusiastic fans looked desperate to make their way inside to get a glimpse of the 20-year-old sensation. And there were still two matches to be played before Eala took the court.
Even when delays pushed the match until late in the chilly desert evening, making it the latest starting match of the day, many of Eala's devoted fans remained in the stands, covered in winter coats and blankets, to cheer her on. After three hard-fought sets, Eala was victorious, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, just before the clock struck midnight and the still sizable crowd roared in ovation. A "Laban Alex!" sign -- meaning "Fight Alex" in Tagalog -- was in the front row.
And what a debut it is 👏👏👏#AlexandraEala | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/BwLx82cNnt
— wta (@WTA) March 7, 2026It was just the latest stop of the growing tennis equivalent of the "Eras Tour" -- the "Eala Tour" if you will. Eala has quickly become one of the most popular players in the sport, drawing hordes of fans, many for the first time, to tennis tournaments around the world. A surprise semifinal run as a wild card at the Miami Open last year, including wins over Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys, put her on the map, and she has become a can't-miss fixture at events ever since. Her first-round match at the Australian Open in January went viral because the crowd was so overwhelmingly in her favor.
Through it all, she has continued to make history for her native Philippines -- including becoming the highest-ranking Filipina player and the first from the country to ever reach a WTA final. Currently at No. 32, one off of her career-high ranking, she will likely crack the top 30 after Friday's victory. She could improve even further but will first have to get past Coco Gauff, the two-time major champion, on Sunday in the Round of 32 as the featured night match on Stadium 1.
Eala embraces all of it -- the pressure, the expectations, the spotlight. While the fan support was nothing new, Friday marked her debut at Indian Wells, and it was more appreciated than ever.
"It means the world to have this community behind me in such a prestigious tournament," Eala said 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 long had big dreams. And it didn't take long for others to recognize her talent and dream with her too.
With sports like basketball and boxing among the most popular in the Philippines, and tennis seen as more of a niche sport without much established success on the global stage, Eala moved as a 13-year-old to Mallorca, Spain, to train at Rafael Nadal's academy.
The decision paid off. She reached the world No. 2 junior ranking and became the first Filipino to win a junior major title at the 2022 US Open, addressing the crowd in Tagalog in a speech that went viral. She was just 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 before her phenomenal run in Miami last year changed everything. During that event, Eala confidently dispatched a slew of former Slam champions -- Swiatek, Keys and Jelena Ostapenko -- all in straight sets. Her infectious joy and tearful and heartfelt postmatch interviews only endeared her further to the fans.
The lore -- and the crowds -- grew and grew.
Jessica Pegula had her first experience against Eala -- and an entire 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, said last month. "I was like, 'What on earth is going on? Where did these people come from?'"
Nadal, who retired in 2024, was among the first to congratulate Eala. The two even practiced together in the offseason in November.
Eala, the only Filipino player currently on either tour, became the first from the country to crack the top 100 with her performance. She reached her first WTA final at Eastbourne just three months later. Then she became the first player representing the Philippines to win a Grand Slam match in the Open era after a hard-fought victory over No. 14 seed Clara Tauson at the US Open. Playing near a neighborhood in Queens with a large Filipino community known as "Little Manila," Eala credited the dedicated and lively crowd at Grandstand for helping her throughout 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 last month, Eala lost to Gauff, who is typically a fan favorite wherever she plays, in the quarterfinals -- and Gauff addressed the stifling pro-Eala crowd after the match.
"Thank you guys for coming out here," she said. "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 like to thank Alex for bringing a new demographic to the sport. I really appreciate it. I think it's great."
In an interview with The National, tournament director Salah Tahlak credited Eala for an influx of new fans at the event.
"Alexandra Eala was a brilliant addition to the field. She attracted a new demographic to the tennis, and the stadium was sold out for all her matches. People were desperately trying to get tickets, but they were all gone.
"We've never seen anything like it."
Pegula, the eventual tournament champion, added she was listening to Eala's fans in Dubai from her hotel room. "You can hear the crowd roaring at night. It's incredible," she said.
While it's impossible to fully quantify how many fans buy tickets for a tournament to see a specific player, some numbers cannot be argued.
Eala's news conference ahead of the Australian Open has 196,000 views -- almost twice that of 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic and more than six times the amount of eventual men's victor Carlos Alcaraz. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, a two-time champion in Melbourne, recorded 9,000 views for her pre-tournament news conference.
A "day in the life" video featuring Eala posted to the BNP Paribas Open official YouTube channel Thursday has already become the tournament's most-viewed content of the 2026 tournament, and it's not close.
Eala currently has almost a million followers on Instagram -- more than double that of high-ranking players like Pegula, Keys and Amanda Anisimova.
And in November, capitalizing on the country's surging interest in tennis, the WTA announced the creation of the Philippine Women's Open, a 125 event, that was held in January. It marked the country's first WTA tournament. Tickets for the final were already sold out before Eala had even confirmed her participation.
Eala will have a tough challenge awaiting Sunday against Gauff. Their meeting in Dubai last month was their first -- although they did play doubles together last year at the Italian Open -- and Gauff won in a 6-0, 6-2 rout.
But Eala said she was excited for the rematch.
"It was a tough match for me last time," Eala said 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 expecting "a big crowd to rally behind [Gauff] just because she's amazing" and was playing at home. But Eala, who seems to have found home no matter where she goes, will of course bring a crowd of her own, and one that will do their best to fuel her throughout.
After Indian Wells, no matter when her run ultimately ends, Eala will then head to Miami to get ready for the tournament where it all began, one year later.
