Alex Eala's face lights up. She gestures wildly with her arms as she tells a room full of journalists (standing room only!) at the Mubadala DC Open one of her favorite stories of her summer.
It was right after her run to the round of 16 at Wimbledon, and she was in Sweden. She was standing right behind Bad Bunny. On the stage! With two of her friends! At his sold-out concert!
"It was lit!" she says, laughing.
The entire room chuckles.
"I was absolutely freaking out when he passed by me," she says.
"I was screaming the lyrics in his face," she says.
"It was like a two-second eye contact."
At that moment, on July 26 at 2:30 p.m., fans outside at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center squish up against a glass window to get a peek of her in the media room. More than a thousand have congregated two days before she even plays her first match in her first hardcourt walkup tournament to the US Open.
Alex Eala has drawn large and enthusiastic crowds to tournaments across the globe, and she hopes to give them several opportunities -- ideally seven -- to see her at the US Open. Getty Images The 21-year-old Eala had just landed following an 18-hour flight from Manila after spending seven days moving from a meet-and-greet with sponsors, to a photoshoot, to a speaking engagement as Filipinos, from grandmas to children, cried when they got a glimpse of her. Eala-mania has gripped people from the Philippines, people from the diaspora, people who have nothing to do with the Philippines, who have never before seen tennis, and they have flooded tournaments across the globe.
Even before she finishes her Bad Bunny story, hands shoot up in the air. Mine is one of them. She takes a deep breath.
For six weeks, I get bursts of time with the player who has never won a major, has never cracked the top 10, yet has become the WTA's biggest star since Serena Williams.
I finally get the mic. "Have you ever stopped to wonder, why you?"
Sunday, July 26, 2:45 p.m.
From photo shoots, to speaking engagements, to interview requests, Eala suddenly has a whole lot of demands on her time. Photo by Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images Alex Eala brags about her wild imagination.
We're sitting in a quiet corner in the media room right after the news conference. She's "a little" jet-lagged after her long flight, but she's rallying. She's super excited to be in the capital of the United States for the first time.