Alex Eala feels a special connection to Flushing Meadows.

“It isn’t often that I get to play in this kind of atmosphere,” the Filipino tennis ace wrote in Filipino on her social media account. “I feel lucky to have experienced the support of Filipinos here in New York.”

“Thanks, my countrymen.”

Flushing Meadows, the fourth largest public park in New York, is also home to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the current venue for the US Open tennis tournament.

It happens to be the tournament where Eala won the tennis major’s girls singles crown in 2022, a historic first Grand Slam singles win for the country that remains unmatched.

She’s aiming for bigger things this year, hoping to get into the main draw of the women’s tournament.

And she’s making the right strides, surviving a testy duel against Spain’s Nuria Parrizas Diaz to hammer out a 7-5, 7-5 upset in the second round of qualifiers early Thursday morning (Manila time).

Eala opened her campaign with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win over Maddison Inglis of Australia in the first round.

Eala was playing Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania at press round, hoping for a win that would book her a first main draw berth in a Grand Slam tournament as a pro.

Regardless of the result, however, there will always be something about Flushing Meadow that will draw Eala to it. —INQUIRER SPORTS STAFF