SINGAPORE – A large group of Filipino fans trooped to the OCBC Arena here without knowing that Alex Eala would not be seeing action in the Round of 16 of the WTA 500 Singapore Open on Wednesday.

According to the organizers, Eala’s scheduled match against Tatiana Prozorova of Russia had been moved to Thursday so that she would still be in contention when most Filipino fans have their day off from their respective work this weekend.

Unfortunately, a lot of fans had already bought tickets for Wednesday, prompting organizers to make Eala available for a Q&A session and a light workout free to the public.

“We’ve been going here since Monday, hoping to watch her play,” said Nora Sanchez, a Singapore-based fan.

“We were hoping to see her play today, but we were told that her schedule was moved to Thursday. It’s okay; at least we get to see her during her meet-and-greet (session) with the fans.”

Eric Guttierez, who works in tech at a Singaporean bank, said they bought tickets for the first two days in advance, hoping to see Eala play. Others bought three-day passes, or seats from the semis to the final.

Shan Andres said their tennis club, which is composed mostly of Filipino expatriates and migrant workers, bought around 100 Filipino flags that they will wave in the bleachers once Eala enters the court.

“We’re all ready,” she said. “We will turn Singapore into her homecourt.”