MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The long queue of fans outside Court 6, the chants of Alex, Alex, Alex and the fluttering Philippines flags all pointed to where Alexandra Eala was making her Australian Open main draw debut.
The 20-year-old Eala made the most of the football-style atmosphere in the first set Monday before Alycia Parks found a way to block all that out and rally for a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 win.
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Supporters of Alexandra Eala of the Philippines react during her first round match against Alycia Parks of the U.S. at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Alexandra Eala of the Philippines plays a backhand return to Alycia Parks of the U.S. during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Alexandra Eala of the Philippines reacts during her first round match against Alycia Parks of the U.S. at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Alycia Parks of the U.S. plays a forehand return to Alexandra Eala of the Philippines during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Alexandra Eala of the Philippines waves to her supporters following her first round loss to Alycia Parks of the U.S. at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin))
Eala has developed a big following in the last year after a breakthrough tournament in Miami where she beat four seeded players — including No. 2-ranked Iga Świątek — before losing in the semifinals. She reached the final at Eastbourne after going through qualifying in June.
He fan base expanded again when she beat Clara Tauson in a long third-set tiebreaker in the first round at the U.S. Open last year for her first win in a major. Sports fans in the Philippines have embraced her journey.
Organizers could easily have filled one of the big show courts at Melbourne Park for Eala's opener against Parks.
Filipino fans were still lined up outside in the third set. For those who got seats, Eala stayed long after Parks had left court and signed autographs.
“Yeah, it was so heart-warming,” she said. “That’s one of the things that makes a loss like today a little bit harder. The fact that everyone came out and really squeezed into that cozy court, I really appreciate it. I felt so loved.
“But then again Alycia played really well. And you know I just hope that the support continues with the losses along with the wins. I think that would really touch me.”
The vociferous crowd was a distraction for Parks in the first set, but the 25-year-old American harnessed the emotions in the second.
“It was very difficult,” Parks said. “I was expecting it, but I wasn’t. She definitely has a good crowd. I just kept telling myself to stay in the zone.”
Parks got an early break in the second set before Eala rallied to get back on serve. Parks won the last three games to take it to a deciding third set, and then dominated.
“I was just so focused on the crowd in the first set, which is why it went the way it went,” she said. “I don’t know what my record is with crowds against me … It definitely puts a fire on me.”
While Parks advanced, Eala will have to use the singles loss as motivation for the doubles.
“I’m still young, 20, so learning how to deal with all of this attention,” she said. “I guess this is one of the moments that I can reflect on what this means for Philippine tennis. I’m the only Filipina in the draw this year. I’m the only Filipina that’s ever been in the draw, I think. So there are positives to take away.
“Like I said, so much gratitude and super thankful.” __
Supporters of Alexandra Eala of the Philippines react during her first round match against Alycia Parks of the U.S. at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Alexandra Eala of the Philippines plays a backhand return to Alycia Parks of the U.S. during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Alexandra Eala of the Philippines reacts during her first round match against Alycia Parks of the U.S. at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Alycia Parks of the U.S. plays a forehand return to Alexandra Eala of the Philippines during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Alexandra Eala of the Philippines waves to her supporters following her first round loss to Alycia Parks of the U.S. at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin))
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom slammed Europe’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Newsom told Europeans to stand up to Trump for the U.S. president’s tariff threats over support of Greenland.
“Have a backbone,” Newsom said.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) —
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said America’s relations with Europe remain strong and urged trading partners to “take a deep breath” and let tensions driven by the Trump administration's new tariff threats over Greenland “play out.”
“I think our relations have never been closer,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations that have rallied around Denmark in the wake of his stepped up calls for the United States to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland.
Trump has insisted the U.S. needs the territory for security reasons against possible threats from China and Russia.
The American leader’s threats have sparked outrage and a flurry of diplomatic activity across Europe, as leaders consider possible countermeasures, including retaliatory tariffs and the first-ever use of the European Union’s anti-coercion instrument.
The EU has three major economic tools it could use to pressure Washington: new tariffs, suspension of the U.S.-EU trade deal, and the “trade bazooka” — the unofficial term for the bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument, which could sanction individuals or institutions found to be putting undue pressure on the EU.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump posted on social media that he had spoken with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. He said "I agreed to a meeting of the various parties in Davos, Switzerland,” which is hosting the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting this week.
Trump also posted a text message from Emmanuel Macron in which the French president suggested a meeting of members of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies in Paris after the Davos gathering.
Later, however, Trump posted some provocatively doctored images. One showed him planting the U.S. flag next to a sign reading “Greenland, U.S. Territory, Est. 2026.” The other showed Trump in the Oval Office next to a map that showed Greenland and Canada covered with the U.S. Stars and Stripes.
In a sign of how tensions have increased in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend in protest of any effort to take over their island. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post Monday that the tariff threats would not change their stance.
“We will not be pressured,” he wrote.
In his latest threat of tariffs, Trump indicated that the import taxes would be retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland — though he also suggested that he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.
Denmark's minister for European affairs called Trump's tariff threats “deeply unfair." He said that Europe needs to become even stronger and more independent, while stressing there is "no interest in escalating a trade war."
"You just have to note that we are on the edge of a new world order, where having power has unfortunately become crucial, and we see a United States with an enormous condescending rhetoric towards Europe,” Marie Bjerre told Danish public broadcaster DK on Tuesday.
European markets opened sharply lower on Tuesday and U.S. futures fell further as tensions rose over Greenland. Benchmarks in Germany, France and Britain fell about 1%. The future for the S&P 500 lost 1.5% and the Dow future was down 1.4%.
With U.S. trading closed Monday for a holiday, financial markets had a relatively muted response to Trump’s threat to put a 10% extra tariff on exports from eight European countries that have opposed his push to exert control over Greenland. Jonas Golterman of Capital Economics described the situation as a lose-lose one for both the U.S. and the targets of Trump’s anger. He said, “It certainly fells like the kind of situation that could get worse before it gets better.”
In another sign of tension between allies, the British government on Tuesday defended its decision to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after Trump attacked the plan, which his administration previously supported.
Trump said that relinquishing the remote Indian Ocean archipelago, home to a strategically important American naval and bomber base, was an act of stupidity that shows why he needs to take over Greenland.
The United Kingdom signed a deal in May to give Mauritius sovereignty over the islands, though the U.K. will lease back the island of Diego Garcia, where the U.S. base is located, for at least 99 years.
AP writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Jill Lawless in London and Elaine Kurtenbach in Bangkok contributed to this report.
Riot police clash with protesters after a rally against the World Economic Forum in Davos and the visit of US President Donald Trump, on Monday, in Zurich, Switzerland, Jan. 19, 2026. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
A fisherman navigates past ice in the sea off the coast of Nuuk, Greenland, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, center, greets Minister for Foreign Affairs and Research of Greenland Vivian Motzfeldt, right, and Denmark's Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, left, prior to a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
People protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury, holds a speech at the USA House during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
