When rising Filipino tennis star Alex Eala plays on Canadian soil at the National Bank Open in Toronto, she’ll be on centre court in front of a sold out crowd of 10,000.
The moment Eala’s appearance was announced — a second round Wednesday night match — seats sold out within 30 minutes, according to Karl Hale, tournament director for the NBO, Canada’s biggest tennis tournament and one of the most prestigious on the WTA tour.
“We’ve never seen a player ranked outside the top five have this type of effect,” Hale said. “I think her fans were specifically waiting to see when she played.”
And it’s not just happening in Toronto.
The WTA tour is a gruelling season of more than 50 tournaments across dozens of countries, spanning multiple continents. And with every appearance, Eala’s fans seem to find her.
“All the tournament directors are talking about it, everybody in the industry is talking about it,” said Hale.
Eala’s popularity has been driven by a massive Filipino diaspora, but also the vitality of her dramatic wins and charismatic interviews. She’s a fresh face on the tour that has looked for star power following the retirement of big names like Serena Williams.
But with that growing popularity has come some backlash, with some online critics calling her overhyped.
However, Eala will play in Toronto fresh off a historic win at the Mubadala D.C. Open in Washington, D.C., making her the first tennis player from the Philippines to bag a WTA title.
“She’s now 20 in the world. So she is really backing it up and she’s growing her fan base,” said Hale.
The early seeds of that fandom came when Eala reached the semifinals of another prestigious WTA tournament in 2025, the Miami Open. She beat out big names, including two top five players.
From there, the crowds only got bigger, extending even to the Grand Slams — the four biggest tournaments of the tennis season.
At last year’s U.S. Open in New York, an energized crowd gave her first-round match the feel of a more consequential clash. Eala came from behind to win, marking the first time a player from the Philippines won a Grand Slam match.
From there, the so-called Eala effect seemed to catch.
Fans lined up for hours to catch her in the first round of this year’s Australian Open in Melbourne. At the time, Eala was ranked 49th and lost that first match.
Canada’s Leylah Fernandez exits D.C. Open with second-round loss to Alexandra Eala
Filipino teen Alexandra Eala stuns Iga Swiatek to make Miami Open semifinals
Her fans carried flags, signs and cheered so loud, it was noted by the opponent who beat her, American Alycia Parks.
After the match, Parks said, “It was difficult,” mentioning that Eala definitely had a good crowd.
Then at Wimbledon in London, the crowd roared when she upset the defending champ Iga Swiatek in the third round.
“It is incredible to have my countrymen cheering me on, knowing that we are all in this together,” Eala said in the post-match interview.
American tennis star turned-podcaster Andy Roddick has called it “Eala-mania.”
On his podcast, he said: “Eala-mania is fun! When you have watch parties in arenas around your country for a fourth-round match, I’m in.”
Eala’s popularity signals a shift in tennis that many have long called for — more diversity.
The top-ranked players in the sport are concentrated in North America and Europe, with the dominant clusters in the U.S., Russia, Spain and France.
Asia has had few players break through the top ranks, while the Philippines, a country of 100 million people, has never produced a tennis star before.
Eala has noted this, embracing her Filipino fans and speaking in her native tongue often during her tournament interviews.
As a Filipino Canadian tennis fan, I can speak to that pride. My whole family has been following Eala since she won the junior’s girls title at the U.S. Open in 2022, excited at the prospect of cheering for another Filipino in a sport we already loved.
And there is a kind of thrill, hearing words like laban, the Tagalog word for fight, shouted from the stands at international tournaments.
It is a joy to watch an entire country, the Filipino diaspora and the rest of the tennis world get excited to walk alongside Eala in pursuit of bigger titles, even a Grand Slam trophy.
Knee injury will prevent Mboko from National Bank Open women’s title defence in Toronto
Eala’s rise has put her on the cover of every major publication in her country, from Vogue to Tatler, while garnering congratulations from Filipinos everywhere in the world, including the Philippine president.
“Everywhere around the world, we have been watching you. We’ve been willing you on, and we have been so proud of you,” President Bongbong Marcos said at a reception hosted for the athlete at the nation’s presidential palace.
She’s credited the love and support of her country for motivating her to continue battling on the court.
In an interview in 2022 with the WTA, she explained why she considers it a privilege to be a banner holder for the Philippines.
“It’s important to me because I don’t see a lot of Filipinos on the worldwide tennis stage.”
