ROARING IN LION CITY: Huge crowd fires up Eala ahead of Singapore Open stint

SINGAPORE — The world-famous “Eala Mania” is on.

Alex Eala has yet to make her first serve, but Filipino fans are already buzzing with excitement, eager to see her live in action when she faces Tatiana Prozorova of Russia in the Round of 16 of the WTA 500 Singapore Tennis Open on Thursday at the OCBC Arena at The Kallang here.

In fact, a huge group of fans, mostly composed of Filipino migrant workers here, showed up on Wednesday to express their love and support for the 21-year-old Eala, who has been taking professional tennis by storm with her incredible skills, humility, grace and beauty.

During a special Q&A session, fans lined up and cheered their hearts out as Eala answered questions about various topics ranging from food, friendship, family, fashion, language and her unending gratitude for the love and support given to her by all her fans all over the world.

“I did not expect to see so many of you here today. So thank you guys, so, so much,” Eala said, addressing the massive crowd that waited for around three hours just to see her live.

“I know some of you flew in from the Philippines; thank you. For those of you who can’t be there to watch, I know there’s an event in December, so if you can catch me there, I’ll see you there. But those who can see me tomorrow, I’ll see you all. Thank you so much. Madaming, madaming salamat!”

But against Prozorova, a gritty Russian netter capable of pulling off an upset, Eala is tipped to show her competitive side in a bid to secure the lion’s share of the $1.2 million purse on top of the 500 WTA points that will surely boost her ranking.

Prozorova said she will show up prepared — not just against Eala — but also to block out the noise brought by the fans who are expected to fill up every corner of the 3,000-seater stadium that once served as the venue of the Southeast Asian Games in 2015.

“I would love to play in front of a big crowd,” said the world No. 166, who is looking to pull off an earthshaking upset against the fast-rising Filipina.

“I already had an experience playing with this, so I’m really excited.”

Prozorova, who rallied from a set down to beat Sofia Costoulas of Belgium in the Round of 32, admitted that Eala is in top form. In fact, she compared her court coverage to that of an “octopus,” making her one of the best when it comes to receiving and returning the ball.

“It’s a good opponent. Well, I can say most times it’s aggressive, but, you know, I can see, for example, what the opponent is doing during the match. And managing my game, my style, and adapting to her style, I just need to be a little smarter than the opponent.”

Should Eala emerge victorious, she will face Wang Xinyu of China in the quarterfinals before getting a lighter opponent in the semifinals following the withdrawal of world No. 11 Amanda Anisimova due to a left wrist injury.

But waiting for her in the final will be world No. 5 Mirra Andreeva — the reigning French Open champion.

“I don’t feel pressured,” said Eala, eager to win this prestigious tourney to set the stage for a historic run in the 20th Asian Games next week in Nagoya.

“I don’t feel that way. I think there’s a will for me to win. There’s definitely that personal will for me too, of course, I’m a competitive athlete, so we want to win, right?”