PRIDE OF THE PHILIPPINES Alexandra “Alex” Eala won’t be the only fan favorite at the Philippine Women’s Open.
“Welcome Filipina” Donna Vekic of Croatia welcomed the love of Filipinos for her first campaign here despite serving as Ms. Eala in the last two overseas tournaments.
“I’m very happy to be here since I played Alex (Eala) in Auckland and Melbourne. His support was absolutely crazy. Earlier I said maybe you guys will take me and I feel like you have,” highlighted the WTA No. 72 Ms. Vekic ahead of his Philippine debut on Monday against WTA No. 310 Kyoka Okamura from Japan.
“I’ve felt the support since I’ve been here. It’s really nice that’s one of the reasons why I finally decided to come here, and I’ve been enjoying it so far. It’s nice to see new tournaments coming to new countries and it’s my first time in the Philippines.”
Ms Vekic, 29, will enter as the No. 4 seed in the 32-player main event to host the world’s WTA 125, which boasts a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, a 2024 Wimbledon final appearance, four WTA 1 titles last year and four WTA 1 titles.
But Ms. Vekic has been on the receiving end of both Ms. Eala and the resilience of the Filipino crowd this year with two straight losses this month alone.
Mrs. Eala, of WTA No. 49, beat Ms Vekic, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand and at the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, 6-4, 6-3, each time with huge crowds in favor of the 20-year-old Filipina.
Mrs. Vekic is tired of hearing that from a well-known source of Filipino support that is on full display at any sporting event in any part of the world – whether it’s for him or against him if he’s given a platform to fight against Ms. He went down deep in a five-round slugfest.
“So far, these two times have been against me and I hope now it will be for me until I play Alex. I enjoy when there is a big crowd and a good atmosphere. Even if they don’t enjoy me, it’s good so if it happens to me, or against me, I’m ready for that,” added the European, who likes the warm weather of Southeast Asia here.
But for Ms. Vekic, there is more than just a whiff of the world’s leading tennis player, delving deeper into the volumes of Ms. Eala now and in the future of a game that is often not popular here.
“I have always wanted to visit as a guest, and I would like to come back eventually, but I am happy to see tennis, especially women’s tennis being played here, I hope it will be an even bigger tournament in the future,” he commented.
“It’s amazing to ride the wave of Alex’s fame and popularity and what he’s bringing to the country and making people know more about tennis. I’m sure a lot of kids started playing because of him, and that’s great. I hope this will bring more fame, more access for kids to play, and who knows, maybe he’ll have another star soon.” – John Bryan Ulanday
