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Hello, I'm Ed Harry and you're listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service.

Today I'm bringing you a bonus episode of More Than the Score, the podcast that scours the globe to find and tell sports stories from beyond the score sheet.

In this episode, we look at a woman who could take

her country and the sport of tennis in a surprising new direction. The hottest ticket at this

year's Australian Open wasn't to see Novak Djokovic or Igis Fiontec or even the tournament's

eventual winners Carlos Alcorath or Elena Rabakina. Instead, the longest cues were to watch the world number 49, Alexandra

Iyala of the Philippines. Her first round match, which she went on to lose, drew thousands of

fans to Melbourne Park, with many being left disappointed as they were unable to find a seat on what

was one of the smaller courts. More than the score explored where she came from,

how far she could go and what her popularity might mean for the future of tennis. I was joined from

the Philippines by sports journalist Kate Reyes from the website spin. p.h. And from Melbourne by the

tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg, editor of Bounces magazine and an ever

present at the Grand Slams and the sports biggest tournaments. For Ben, Iyala is the most popular

player in tennis right now. He described to me the moment that she made her breakthrough on the

global stage. At the Miami Open in spring of last year, Alex Yala was ranked well at the top 100. She only got a wild card into this tournament, which is one of the most prestigious on the women's tour, because her management company, IMG, actually owns the Miami Open, and they have been trying to get her star moving. They understand the potential for her, be popular and gave her a chance to play this tournament, even though her ranking did not qualify her for it. She was one of the last players actually given a wild card from their stable, even. It was a fairly borderline decision for them. But once she got the chance at this moment, Ayala really seized on it. She beat the reigning Ushrain Open champion, Madison Keys, early in that tournament. She had beaten another grand standem champion, Lena Ossupenko, and she also beat Igish Viontec in the quarterfinals, all the way going to the semifinals, which is a remarkable result for a player outside the top hundred. And even though Iala is, and Miami, actually, I should say, Yala is not really known before this, and Miami is not compared to a lot of U.S. cities, a particular hotbed

of the Filipino diaspora. There were already lots and lots of fans at her matches waving flags

who come to see her. And this really launched her into superstardom in the Philippines.

And she's been covered very closely, very breathlessly, very excitedly, ever since Miami run,

all the way peaking through now about 10 months later at this Australian Open.

And Ben, you're obviously there in Melbourne covering the Australian Open. What was that atmosphere

like around her first round match? Yeah, well, it started well before her first round match,

...