Former British No 1 Annabel Croft believes that Alex Eala is building a “certain aura” in the locker room and that her popularity is like nothing she has seen before.

Ever since the left-hander enjoyed a breakthrough run to the semi-finals at the 2025 Miami Open, ‘EalaMania’ has been in full swing.

Backed by an army of fans from the Philippines, which is a part of the world that has had very little tennis success, the 21-year-old is arguably becoming the WTA Tour‘s hottest topic.

The Filipina is backing up the hype, though, with Eala rising to a career-high ranking of 18 after a summer where she won her first WTA Tour title in Washington, in a star-studded lineup, and reached round four of Wimbledon – beating defending champion Iga Swiatek along the way.

At this month’s Canadian Open, thousands of fans came to watch Eala in what was a carnival-like atmosphere at the Toronto tournament. After seeing those scenes, Croft admitted she was completely blown away.

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The former world No 24 told Sky Sports, “I’ve never seen anything like it. The stadium, you could not get a seat. The noise, the excitement levels, and she just takes it all in her stride. And you could see in Washington what she brings to the court and she plays with such grace.

“There’s a certain class about her. I love her attitude. I love the way she goes after the ball. She’s a very deceptive tennis player. Being a lefty, she’s quite awkward, but that forehand… it’s not a huge strike, but it does damage.”

A lot of attention has focused on Eala’s serve and how it is relatively underpowered compared to much of the WTA Tour.

However, the youngster’s lefty delivery, spin, placement and variation have drawn comparisons with Angelique Kerber, who did not have a particularly potent serve but still won three Grand Slams.

And the fact that she is beating a host of top 10 players shows Eala is a big-match player.

Croft continued, “I would imagine that she has built up some kind of locker-room respect right now where you build a certain aura and then that counts for quite a lot on the tour as well because players don’t want to face you because of the record that she’s building up.

“There’s something awkward about a lefty serve, a little bit like Kerber. I remember she didn’t have a big serve, but it was so well placed into the court. But also when you put a lot of spin on it and it sometimes has less pace on it, you’re forcing your opponents to generate pace and they start to get a bit jittery.

“She keeps notching up the big wins, but she’s also backing up the pressure wins. She plays under a lot of pressure with all of that excitement from the Filipino community. They turn out in their droves to watch her. That for some people would be a pressure, but she embraces it. She loves it.”

The 60-year-old was then asked if Eala could be a contender at the US Open, which starts on Sunday. Crofts stopped short of that but did say nobody will want to face her in New York over the next fortnight.

She added, “She’s obviously somebody who enjoys being on a big stage. There will be a lot of players that won’t want to face her because she’s very in form. And I think the hard courts really suit her game.”

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