The World No. 18 Alexandra Eala is currently the most loved tennis player in the WTA circuit, and the Filipino star makes sure that every bit of that love is reciprocated to her fans. After her second-round victory at the Louis Armstrong Stadium against Oleksandra Oliynykova, she was asked whether she does not get tired of treating everyone in the same manner, to which she had a heartwarming reply. 

“Well, I think every person does matter. I don’t think that’s anything special,” she said during the on-court interview. “I try to live my life with positivity and happiness. I’m surrounded by love thanks to my family and friends. I hope you guys feel the same way, and watching tennis, you feel love and you feel happiness as well.”

Oliynykova was the same player who defeated Eala in the first round of the Strasbourg Open in May, coming back from a set down to win in three, so Thursday’s win redeemed that clay-court defeat. This time there was no drama and rather a straightforward victory. 

The 17th seed broke serve immediately to take control of the first set, and closed out 6-1. The Ukrainian found more of a foothold in the second, breaking Eala’s serve twice, but Eala answered with three breaks of her own to close out the match 6-4 in exactly one hour and four minutes.

Eala won 75 per cent of her first-serve points and was effective at the net, winning 79 per cent of her net points. The Filipino relies on converting break points, and she converted 5 of 7 break-point chances, compared with Oliynykova’s 2 of 5. The world No. 18 is usually not big on winners, but she still outhit her opponent with 19 winners to just 6 for Oliynykova. Eala did not give the Ukrainian much breathing space from start to finish. 

The 21-year-old Eala gets preference over big names in the sport to play on the stadium court due to her massive fan following. The organizers described that Louis Armstrong turned into Filipino party, as the whole stadium was filled with Filipino fans, flags, and banners. There’s a small neighborhood in Queens, which is home to over 50,000 Filipino residents, and many of them had come from there to celebrate their player. Eala has become the country’s biggest sports person since boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, a comparison that would not have made sense a few months ago. 

Eala’s round 3 clash might be against her tour pal

Alexandra Eala arrived at the US Open months after her breakthrough fourth-round finish at Wimbledon this summer, which catapulted her to the top tier of women’s tennis and seeded her for the first time at a major. Last year, she made her debut in New York, and it was a historic one to start with. 

She defeated 14th seed Clara Tauson in the first round in a three-set battle but then lost in the second round against Cristina Bucsa in straight sets. The 21-year-old has already bettered her last year’s campaign by reaching the third round at the Flushing Meadows. 

Eala will face the winner of a second-round match between 14th seed Iva Jovic, the 18-year-old American enjoying a breakout season of her own, and British qualifier Francesca Jones. Jovic is not just this year’s Australian Open quarterfinalist but also a close friend of Eala. The Filipino has mentioned that the American is her closest friend on tour, and most likely the two will face in the third round to challenge for a place in the round of 16. The duo even played an exhibition match during the US Open fan week for charity at Arthur Ashe, where they brought their fathers on the court to play a spontaneous doubles match.

The two players have met twice previously, and both matches took place this year itself. The 14th seed leads the head-to-head record with 2-0, and one of the matches came at the French Open first round, where Jovic blew Eala away in straight sets. Both know each other very well on and off the court, but the Eala she will be facing Saturday is not the same she faced the previous two times.