Fresh off of her first WTA Tour title, Alex Eala and her Filipino following get ready for Toronto’s NBO
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Alexandra Eala won her first-ever WTA Tour title on Monday, topping American Jessica Pegula in the final. She’s been supported through a successful year by a loyal Filipino fan base.Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
Wherever she plays, Filipino supporters turn out in large numbers to support Alex Eala, a trailblazing pro tennis player from the Philippines. Toronto will be at the centre of that growing buzz on Wednesday, during a sold-out night at the National Bank Open.
The 21-year-old became the first Filipina to win a WTA singles title Monday at the DC Open, which will propel her to a career-high ranking of No. 20, another best for her nation. Eala has been beating top players all summer and is called the future of the women’s tour.
Organizers of the NB Open have been anticipating Eala’s first appearance in Toronto for months, as the long-awaited rising star has been skyrocketing up the rankings lately and growing her following. Expecting big attendance from the city’s large Filipino diaspora on Wednesday, they’ve scheduled her match right after Canada’s World No. 34 Leylah Fernandez competes, another player the Filipino-Canadian community follows. Fernandez’s father is from Ecuador, and her mother is of Filipino descent. Eala and Fernandez are friends.
The NB Open has even added a special Filipino dish to its food offerings for fans Wednesday – chicken adobo – one of several ideas that came from a Filipino-Canadian on Tennis Canada’s tournament staff.
Alexandra Eala rallies past Jessica Pegula at DC Open to capture her first WTA singles title
“To have both of them play on the same night is incredible for the community,” said Tennis Canada’s Jason Maglantay, the senior director of ticket sales and services.
Maglantay is a Torontonian who says his Filipino family and friends have all been buzzing about Eala. So have the Filipino community on Facebook and other social channels he follows.
He started imagining how big her debut visit to Toronto could be while watching the Australian Open in January. Eala was scheduled to play a match on a smaller court that held a few hundred spectators, while thousands were left waiting outside wanting to get in.
The buzz has been growing this year, highlighted by a Round of 16 run in Miami, a semi-final appearance in Berlin, and an upset of then World No. 3 Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon. After that, Eala received a presidential citation from her nation’s President, Ferdinand (Bongbong) Marcos Jr. at Malacañang Palace.
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Eala celebrated her DC Open championship win with a loyal and large contingent of Filipino fans.Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
Her social media following is swelling – including 1.6 million currently on Instagram.
“Speaking to my family and friends in the community, people started asking me about her. ‘Is she coming, can I know a little bit more about her?’” said Maglantay. “And these are people who don’t even follow tennis.”
When the NB Open announced on Friday that Eala would play in Toronto, Maglantay’s phone blew up with messages from friends and family, and then again after she won in Washington.
“We’re pretty proud of anything that comes out of our country in the Philippines,” said Maglantay. “The only thing I know of with this kind of hype among Filipinos in the sports realm would be the boxer Manny Pacquiao.”
Organizers also reached out to Toronto’s Filipino community groups and the consulate to promote the tournament.
The greater Toronto area has one of the world’s largest Filipino diasporas. Every available seat for centre court is sold out for Wednesday night’s session, which will see Fernandez play Mexico’s Renata Zarazua, followed by Eala’s match against American Alycia Parks.
Sobeys Stadium has a capacity of 10,077. Maglantay projects eight out of 10 fans could be of Filipino heritage. Fans will get another opportunity to see her take part in doubles at the NBO. She’ll be partnering with tennis legend Venus Williams.
“I‘m really very excited to see and experience the atmosphere,” said Eala on Tuesday, in her first news conference since arriving from Washington.
“It’s nice to see that the Filipino community is really showing up and they’re enjoying tennis … hopefully it will help grow the sport as well and in the end give them a new experience, a joyful experience.”
While this will be her first tournament in Toronto, the tennis world has been talking about rising young Eala for some time.
The player born in Quezon City, Philippines, has been training at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Manacor, Spain, since 2018.
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Fans in Washington showed support for Eala during her championship match against Jessica Pegula on Monday. Event organizers in Toronto are expecting the same support at the National Bank Open.Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
“The academy’s played a pretty big role in my life,” she said. “I went to train there at 13 … they reached out to my family, and I went there as a scholar.”
Eala captured the 2022 U.S. Open girls’ singles title – the first junior grand slam singles crown for the Philippines. That after winning junior doubles majors at the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 French Open.
Last week, Eala took down a row of seeded opponents on her way to her maiden title in Washington. Wins over Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka, and Fernandez, set her up to stun the tournament’s top seed, World No. 3 Jessica Pegula in a three-set, come-from-behind, rain-interrupted final over the long weekend, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.
During the tournament, Pegula described Eala as “the future of the tour.” Nadal congratulated her on X, and the team at his academy.
“It’s an honour to for one to represent my country, and I’m super grateful for all the love and the recent recognition that I’m getting,” said Eala. “In those specific moments when I’m living it, they do become quite overwhelming, especially when I’m experiencing things for the first time. But all in a positive light.”
