Alexandra Eala has turned early-stage matches into some of the loudest, most crowded scenes anywhere on the women’s tour this season. From Melbourne to the Middle East, the 20‑year‑old Filipino has become a major attraction for supporters who travel and fill outside courts just to watch her play.
Ranked 49th during the Australian Open and now pushing towards the top 30, she has moved quickly from promising prospect to centre attraction.
Former Pros Compare Alexandra Eala’s ‘Insane’ Star Power with Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff
The biggest sign of Eala’s pull came in Melbourne, when a surge of Filipino fans toward Court 6 created a bottleneck that stretched too far, leaving many supporters stuck outside despite arriving early.
Security had to turn people away as others crowded around big screens and nearby food courts, waving flags and trying to catch any angle of her first‑round match against Alycia Parks. Her pre‑tournament press conference drew about 171,000 online viewers, dwarfing the roughly 29,000 who tuned in for Carlos Alcaraz or Coco Gauff and the 9,000 for Aryna Sabalenka.
Those scenes are exactly what former top Americans Sam Querrey, John Isner, and Steve Johnson analysed on the latest episode of the Nothing Major podcast. Querrey framed the debate in simple terms, asking, “Is she the biggest draw in women’s tennis right now? In the world? Is she bigger than Sabalenka? Is she bigger than Coco?”
Johnson immediately replied, agreeing to this statement, stating, “Yes. Dude, it’s crazy. Like in Australia, the court was standing room only. Then, Dubai, standing room only. It’s insane, it’s massive. The crowd she’s getting right now, like all over the world, is insane.”
The trio compared Eala’s pull to the “Fonseca effect” on the men’s side in Miami last year, when Brazilian teenager João Fonseca’s matches had to be moved from outside courts because chanting fans overwhelmed the grounds. Querrey argued that Eala’s surge might already be bigger, saying her crowds now demand centre court or at least the second‑largest stadium wherever she plays.
Isner then highlighted the commercial side, calling the Philippines a “huge market” many in tennis had underestimated, and stressing that fans “finally have a star on the women’s side of the game,” making Eala “definitely one to watch, obviously because she is just too good, but just for the atmosphere.”
Adding to this, Querrey said, “She’s already been on the cover of Vogue, and she’s playing well right now, too. This is like if she wins a slam, it would be like one of the biggest things in the world.”
Given her popularity in the tennis community, there is no doubt that if she keeps delivering impressive performances while improving her results, she is only going to get bigger among the fans. Querrey also mentioned that Eala wasn’t very popular until Miami last year, but now she’s a “rockstar,” even though she hasn’t yet entered the WTA top 10.
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Eala’s 2026 Season So Far After Meteoric Rise
At the Australian Open, hundreds of fans were turned away from Court 6 as the stands overflowed, forcing many to watch from walkways overlooking the court. Inside, the chair umpire repeatedly asked the crowd to quieten down during points, underlining how unusual the noise level was for a player seeded outside the top brackets.
However, this attention is justified by the Filipina’s impressive performance in her breakthrough 2025 season, starting with her run to the Miami Open semifinals. Eala defeated Grand Slam champions Iga Świątek, Madison Keys, and Jeļena Ostapenko to reach the last four of the WTA 1000 event and made her top 100 debut.
She then reached her first WTA final on grass in Eastbourne and claimed her maiden main‑draw Grand Slam win at the US Open, helping her finish the year at a career‑high ranking of No. 50. That momentum continued into 2026 with deep runs in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and as of now, she is ranked World No.31 after a quarterfinal showing at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
