Alex Eala’s many Filipino fans descend on US Open

NEW YORK — The Alex Eala fans came bearing Filipino flags, and wearing hats telling her to fight on (“Laban Alex”). They cheered her sizzling groundstrokes, documented her volleys and serves in photos and video, and in some cases FaceTimed with friends or family. And this was only at the practice courts. It was about four hours before Eala was to take the court for her first-round US Open match Monday night, and every seat at the practice court was filled. Many of Eala’s fans didn’t have tickets for the evening session. But they’d come to see their idol hit…