Jordan Manlapig, a 39-year-old American resident, is at one of the practice courts hosting women’s world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and men’s world No.2 Alexander Zverev. Mumbai: It is Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day at the US Open.
Someone else’s hitting session, though, attracts the biggest crowd for the day — Alexandra Eala. “Essentially, we see ourselves in her. Even then, she knew what it meant. “Especially the support I get from home, from the Filipino people, it’s such a blessing.
Manlapig has followed Eala since she won the US Open girls’ singles title in 2022 (again, the first Filipino to do so). He waited in line for three hours at the 2026 Australian Open for her match, and watched Eala beat Osaka and Pegula in Washington. Even then, as a highly-rated trainee of the Rafa Nadal Academy, where she entered in 2018, she carried some spotlight.
Because I know that not a lot of people in this ranking span are able to get that.”
“That says a lot about her star power,” Manlapig, whose parents are Filipino, told HT from New York. “When Alex accomplishes something like winning a match, it’s a modern example of kapwa, in which we take pride that one of our own has accomplished a feat on the world stage,” said Manlapig. “I think a reason also why I have such a big following is because people see themselves in me,” she said on Served with Andy Roddick podcast. Eala said this at the Mumbai Open last February, when, in contrast to being the cynosure of world media in a Grand Slam, she was speaking to a couple of reporters at a WTA 125K event. “It’s such a big privilege to have this support, and this, quote unquote, spotlight,” Eala said, standing by the CCI courts.
In Washington at a WTA 500 tournament, around 80% of the ticket enquiries were for Eala’s matches, according to the tournament chairman. The video of her match with Iva Jovic in it has 18 lakh views on YouTube. For context, the match of Learner Tien, an exciting US prospect, and French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli, has 1.6 lakh views.
Playing her next match in Toronto, Eala drew a sellout crowd on a Wednesday. In New York, Eala’s entry into a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium for the Stars of the Open event had a concert vibe to it.
Top seed Jessica Pegula, whom the southpaw beat to become the first Filipino to win a WTA title, said it was the “best Monday final crowd” she had ever seen.
