The “Eala-mania” has officially taken over the US Open.

Tournament director Eric Butorac has seen firsthand the Filipino tennis star’s growing popularity in New York with the 21-year-old Alex Eala drawing a massive crowd during the “Stars of the Open” exhibition match at the historic Arthur Ashe Stadium last Friday (Manila time).

That’s why when the Filipina formally steps on the hard court of the 14,000-searter Lance Armstrong Stadium inside the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Butorac is expecting the crowd to go wild as they jump, scream and cheer their hearts out for the latest darling of professional tennis.

“We were fortunate to have her in the mix. We saw some of it, that crowd turned up there, what she did in Stars of the Open,” said Butorac, who gave Eala a chance to connect with her fans during the “Stars of the Open” event, where she even played doubles with her father, Mike, against world No. 14 Iva Jovic and her father, Bojan.

“We changed the format of Stars of the Open during Fan Week to highlight the eight kind of young stars and having her play against Iva Jovic. I don’t know if you guys caught any of that match, but it was electric in there.”

Eala lost to Jovic, 3-6, in the one-set friendly duel, but the result hardly mattered as thousands of Filipino fans packed the 23,771-seater facility.

The reception was enough for tournament officials to realize that Eala’s US Open campaign could become one of the biggest stories of the tournament.

Butorac said putting Eala in the second-largest stadium at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center was an obvious choice. And even with a rise in ticket prices, organizers still believe that the venue will be filled up to the rafters just like what happened when Eala had her training over the weekend.

“We scheduled her first match at Louis Armstrong Stadium. We knew it had to be in a major stadium. We thought that’s a great place to start, but I’ve already kind of monitored some of the secondary pricing, and that session is blowing up,” Butorac said, realizing that the fast-rising Filipina needs a bigger stage to shine.

“You know, it’s just amazing to see. I can’t wait to have her out there, late at night and see all the Filipino crowd behind her. It’s gonna be really special.”

Seeded No. 17 and ranked a career-best No. 18, Eala is chasing her first Grand Slam title and hoping to improve on her second-round finish in last year’s US Open.

But with “Eala-mania” spreading through New York, she could have an entire nation — and plenty of new fans — behind her.