Alexandra Eala Draws Packed U.S. Open Crowds After Reaching World No. 18
Updated
Updated · The New Yorker · Aug 29
Alexandra Eala Draws Packed U.S. Open Crowds After Reaching World No. 18
3 articles · Updated · The New Yorker · Aug 29
Summary
Practice Court No. 3 hit capacity before the U.S. Open main draw, and Eala’s early mixed-doubles match later filled the lower bowl with Filipino fans from Queens, New Jersey and beyond.
The 21-year-old arrives in New York at a career-high No. 18, the highest-ranked Southeast Asian woman in tennis history, after a summer that included a Wimbledon fourth round and a Washington title.
That rise has turned Eala into one of tennis’s strongest ticket sellers: a Washington organizer said 80% of inquiries were for her, and the Canadian Open credited her with unusually early sellouts.
Her appeal stretches beyond results, becoming a point of pride for the Filipino diaspora and a catalyst at home, where watch parties draw late-night audiences and some youth tennis enrollments have doubled.