Bye shows how far Alexandra Eala has come in women’s tennis
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Alexandra Eala of the Philippines acknowledging the crowd after losing to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland at the National Bank Open in Toronto.
PHOTO: AFP
- Alexandra Eala is now ranked 20th in the world and receives first-round byes in WTA tournaments, showing her rise in women’s tennis.
- She recently ended a seven-match winning streak and is competing in major WTA 1000 events like the Cincinnati Open and National Bank Open.
- Eala draws large crowds, especially from Filipino communities abroad, helping to sell out tournaments and bringing new fans to the women’s tour.
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Now ranked 20th in the world, Alexandra Eala does not need to scrounge for main-draw slots in top-level WTA tournaments.
She is getting first-round byes now, a privilege accorded to high-ranked players.
The 21-year-old Filipino superstar will have some more time to cool her heels after a busy last two weeks before she plays either Magda Linette of Poland or Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the third round of the Cincinnati Open.
Her next tournament is another WTA 1000 event that starts on Aug 13 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, where she is the 17th seed.
Eala stumbled out in the round of 16 of the National Bank Open in Toronto a couple of days back after taking a straight-sets loss at the hands of Belinda Bencic. The defeat ended a seven-match winning streak that stretched back to Washington, DC, where she won her first WTA title, the Mubadala DC Open.
Before being seeded into tournaments, she would either be given wild cards or have to play through a qualifier to get through the main draws.
Now, she comes to events not only as a legitimate force, but also as one who packs venues to the rafters because of the strong support coming from Filipino communities abroad. The Toronto tournament, for example, had to transfer Eala to centre court because of the ticket demand the event was getting.
“As we say, I’ve come far, but I have still further to go,” Eala said.
Even the game’s biggest stars, like Coco Gauff of the United States and Naomi Osaka of Japan, have welcomed this as a big development for the women’s tour.
“I like that Alex brings a whole new demographic (to the WTA) tour,” Gauff, who lost to Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals in Toronto, had said in one interview.
“(I) know you were mostly supporting Alex. But I have to say, it is great to be on a crowded court,” said the American after a 6-0, 6-2 win over Eala in Dubai in February.
“I’ve played this tournament for many years. And to see the stadium full, it means a lot.”
Mubadala DC and National Bank Open organisers even bared that they have never experienced a sell-out like this before. The last time the National Bank Open sold out an opening on Wednesday was two decades ago, courtesy of Serena Williams.
Eala is in the third group of the Cincinnati Open draw with American Jessica Pegula, the player she beat in come-from-behind style to win the Mubadala DC Open, leading the bracket.
Also on her side of the draw is Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, the 21-year-old who beat countrywoman Karolina Muchova in the Wimbledon finals.
Noskova suffered a second-round exit in Toronto, her first tournament after fulfilling all her media commitments for winning in London. She is expected to be a lot sharper now than the way she played against Caty McNally in Canada, where she lost in straight sets.
Eala eventually bundled out McNally. INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
