Alex Eala is enjoying a breakout season to remember in 2026 as she continues to soar in the WTA Tour rankings.
The star announced herself to the tennis world in 2025, particularly with a run to the Miami Open semi finals, but it wasn’t until 2026 when she began to truly brush shoulders with the elite of the women’s game.
In 2026, Eala has beaten the likes of Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, and Jessica Pegula, which helped her win the first WTA title of her career at the Washington Open.
The 21-year-old has been one of the WTA Tour’s most popular stars all over the world this season, which has continued during her stint at the US Open.
Eala’s popularity is largely from Filipinos supporting the star and she is set to play in front of her home country at the end of the tennis season.
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The star has been confirmed to play an exhibiton match in the Philipines in December and she will be playing fellow Southeast Asian star Janice Tjen, who is from Indonesia.
The tournament is set to hugely in demand and it could end up being one of the most well-attended tennis matches in the country’s history.
Jessica Schiffer, of Hard Court, said: “Over 15k people have signed up for pre-sale access in the first few hours. The stadium fits 52,000 people and I’m told they’re expecting to break attendance records.”
Eala and Tjen are firm friends on the WTA Tour and they have even shared the court in doubles across the season.
The pair enjoyed an impressive run to the Abu Dhabi Open in February, where they reached the semi finals of the WTA 500 tournament.
Eala and Tjen defeated Leylah Fernandez and Kristina Mladenovic, as well as Cristina Bucsa and Zhang Shuai, before losing to Olivia Nicholls and Tereza Mihalikova in the final four.
The 21-year-old’s match in the Philippines will not be the star’s first time playing in front of her home crowd, however, as she appeared at the inaugural Philippine Women’s Open earlier this year.
Eala reached the quarter finals of the WTA 125 event, beating Alina Charaeva and Himeno Sakatsume, before being beaten by eventual champion Camila Osorio in the last eight.
The Manila tournament was well-attended, but it will not come anywhere near close to the amount of tickets her exhibition match with Tjen is looking on course to smash.
This is just another example that Eala is the biggest export the WTA Tour has right now and she could end up completely revolutionising the sport.
