Alex Eala smacks a return against Coco Gauff. —AFP PHOTO

After notching a breakthrough victory in the US Open in New York last year, Alex Eala made it a point to thank the throng of supporters, mostly from nearby Queens, for the valuable energy they provided in her duel against the 14th-seeded Clara Tauson.

“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,” Eala said then.

That was almost a year ago and if it has skipped everyone’s mind that Eala finally has an Open she can call her own—the WTA created the Philippine Women’s Open, a 125 event, to piggyback on her immense popularity in the country—it is for one reason only.

Eala is a certified rock star on the WTA tour and wherever she goes, a large, often loud crowd makes her feel right at home.

Dubai. Australia. Hong Kong. It doesn’t matter. If Eala shows up, a “home” crowd will fill the stadium to rally behind her.

It doesn’t even matter if the tournament has an actual home bet.

In an interview with ESPN, Jessica Pegula spoke about experiencing the kind of energy Eala’s fans bring to the court—she felt an entire stadium go against her during her Miami Open semifinals duel against Eala.

And what surprised Pegula wasn’t that the crowd was against her despite the fact that she actually won the match.

“I’m from there,” she said.

Muted celebration

At Indian Wells on Monday (Manila time), Eala had a huge crowd behind her again. But while they cheered her after advancing to the round of 16, the celebration was a tad muted by the fact that the Filipino superstar’s opponent, her former doubles partner Coco Gauff, retired from the third-round match due to an injury.

“No one likes winning like that and no one likes losing like that,” Eala, who was leading 6-2, 2-0 and showcasing her patient baseline play, said.

She did celebrate something different with the crowd, though.

“First and foremost, I want to say Happy Women’s Day to everyone,” Eala said during the postmatch courtside interview.

“I wanna say thank you to all the incredible women who have paved the way and who have advocated for themselves and for other women—among them is Coco.

“So thank you, Coco, for being an amazing competitor and an amazing role model.”

The 21-year-old Gauff retired with a “scary” left arm injury that “felt like it was on fire,” but was optimistic she could sort out the problem in time to play in Miami.

“I felt it, like, the second game of the first set,” the American said. “I guess a simple way to put it, it felt like a firework was going off inside of my arm and then my whole arm felt like it was on fire.

“It was a scary feeling,” she said, adding that she would have an MRI scan to get an accurate diagnosis of what she’s been told is likely a nerve-related issue.

“Good news is they don’t think it’s going to be like a long-term type of situation, so I should be fine for Miami,” she said, looking ahead to the second leg of the ATP and WTA’s “Sunshine Double” that follows on the heels of Indian Wells.

Eala certainly wishes that much for her friend.

“I really hope everything is well and you will recover soon,” she said, while also giving her mom, Rizza Maniego-Eala, a shoutout.

“I wanna thank her for the amazing woman that she is and for helping me become the woman that I am,” Eala said.

Next opponent

The world No. 31, who is expected to climb the women’s ranking with her latest result, will next face Czech Linda Noskova, the world No. 14, for a place in the quarterfinals.

And while she wasn’t completely happy with the way she advanced, Eala hopes to ride the wave of that abbreviated victory in her next match.

“Nevertheless, I’m really happy with how I played,” added Eala, who was trounced 6-0, 6-2 by Gauff in the quarterfinals at Dubai last month. “I hope I can make the best out of the momentum.”

Eala, speaking in Filipino, thanked the flag-waving, name-chanting, red-white-and-blue-clad crowd for staying up late to watch her and urged them to come out again for that match.

“Maraming salamat sa suporta at magkita tayo sa next round (Thank you very much and let’s see each other in the next round),” she said, drawing loud cheers.