India, Aug. 25 -- At 13, Alexandra Eala uprooted her life in the Philippines and parachuted into the Spanish island of Mallorca carrying her tennis ambitions.

All through her teenage years, home for her was the Rafa Nadal Academy there. It's a long time to be away from home and the people Eala calls her own, but it was all part of a long-term developmental project of a player who came from a Southeast Asian country with no tennis heritage or ecosystem.

Incidentally, when the most significant chapter thus far of that project arrived, a large group of Filipinos flocked to Flushing Meadows to add a distinct flavour to Eala's moment of history.

"To be Filipino is something I take so much pride in," an emotional Eala said on New York's Gran...