Alex Eala’s Wimbledon run sparks tennis boom in the Philippines

Tennis pundits have dubbed it IALA-mania, and nowhere are the fans more passionate than in Manila, where Alexandra Iala, the first Filipina to break into the top 30 of the women's singles tour, grew up. She's getting the rockstar treatment after a historic Wimbledon campaign where she showed courage and grit, as exemplified in this photo of her diving to retrieve a ball in her match against the defending champion. A match she won to advance to the round of 16, a milestone for Philippine tennis. A growing number of Filipino fans are showing up for her too. The pack stands in this arena, reminiscent of Manny Pacquiao's boxing matches. Many say they had never watched tennis before Alex's breakthrough. Now they're also taking up the sport. I've been playing tennis here for nearly 30 years, and these courts were covered for the longest time in sand and crushed seashells, slow like clay for club players. But shortly after Alex Iala's success on the hard courts of Miami, the club cemented them over and this summer's tennis camp has been packed. Earlier this year, Manila hosted its first high-level women's professional event. Our team, we've been a lot more, we've been feeling the support, we've been getting all the equipment that we need, everything that we need, uniform, practice courts, and especially with these new courts here at Rizal, they've been such a game-changer for us. The Tennis Federation says support has grown in leaps and bounds, but it needs more. A lot of people want to try it. The problem is the courts. Most of the courts are full now, but now I've been talking to different local government officials and they all want to build the tennis courts. The goal, the National Federation says, is to nurture more homegrown talent like Alex, without them having to leave the Philippines. Barnabelo, Algecira, Manila.