Greg Rusedski has backed Alex Eala to make more history later this year when she plays in an exhibition in the Philippines.
Eala has broken a number of records for her country in the past year or so, such as becoming the first Filipino to reach the top 20, defeat top 10 opponents, win a WTA Tour title and reach the fourth round of a major (Wimbledon).
The 21-year-old has cracked the top 20 in the rankings, but the left-hander will harbour designs on going much higher than that during her career. As she is such a trailblazer for a nation that hasn’t had a great deal of success in tennis, Eala has an army of followers like none other.
The world No 18 is arguably one of the biggest stars in tennis right now, something that is backed up by the numbers she gets on social media and the fans that watch her every move.
While her 2026 season is drawing to a close soon, Eala is set to play an exhibition with Indonesian star Janice Tjen at the Philippine Arena in Manila on 8 December.
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If the venue is packed to the rafters, 55,000 spectators could watch the match, which would break the attendance record set by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in South Africa back in 2020.
Back then, the Swiss and Spanish stars attracted a crowd of 51,954 but Eala and Tjen could beat that later this year in Manila. As tickets remain on sale, former world No 4 Rusedski has backed the youngster to break the attendance record.
The former US Open finalist said it is great when megastars go to different parts of the world for events like these, just as Federer did in 2012 in Brazil and then again in 2019 in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador.
He said on Off Court with Greg Rusedski, “I think they will sell all the tickets. When she went into Toronto after winning Washington, it was sold out on the Monday and look at the region she is having the exhibition in.
“They’ll be sold. It’s going to be full, and that is fabulous for the game. It’s like the Federer tour in South America and Mexico, where they had stadiums filled week in, week out. It’s fantastic for our sport. I hope they get a full 55,000 and would love to see a new record.”
According to Philstar, more than 20,000 tickets have been sold for this event but there is still a long way to go for it to enter record-breaking territory.
