Alex Eala’s superstar status is set to go to the next level at the US Open, with the numbers she is serving up on social media platforms confirming she is the most watched player in tennis.
Eala’s rise up the rankings has seen her claim a huge army of supporters, with fans of the most popular sports person in Philippines packing tennis stadiums around the world over the last couple of years.
The 21-year-old broke into the top 20 of the WTA Rankings when she won her first tour level title in Washington last month and she is set to be given A-list status at this year’s US Open.
That looks set to include appearances on the main show courts and maybe even the night sessions on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Eala confirmed her pulling power is big in New York as a packed crowd watched her play American Iva Jovic in an exhibition match on the biggest tennis stage of them all, with Eala event getting her Dad out on court to create a magical social media moment.
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The YouTube numbers for her big night on Arthur Ashe Stadium make for remarkable viewing, with the official US Open channel confirming Eala’s match was by far the most watched upload so far.
Videos of warm up matches this year have been attracting relatively modest views on YouTube, with last year’s men’s final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner attracting 439K views a full year later.
Yet Eala’s one set exhibition against Jovic has already pulled in over one million views in less than 24 hours, which means it is already climbing the chart of the most watched YouTube videos posted by the US Open account.
“Of course, I want to give back as much as they give to me, but the obligation first and foremost is to myself. It’s my journey,” said Eala, when she spoke about her fanbase.
“I am really super grateful that all of these supporters want to follow in that journey that I have, but I owe it to myself first and foremost and to my family and team to give it everything that I have. The rest will follow.”
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Eala spoke to Tennis365 in an exclusive interview last year and highlighted how proud she is to represent the Philippines on the biggest stages in tennis.
“It just warms my heart that people in my country are looking at what I am doing and might try tennis,” she added.
“I’m travelling all the time, so I don’t get to see what is happening with tennis in the Philippines, but I get sent a lot of videos and pictures of young people saying I am inspiring them and that is so exciting for me.
“The youth and especially the young girls who are inspired by me and that makes everything so warm for me. In terms of the scale of my impact back home, I don’t have a big idea about it and I just focus on what is important and that is my tennis and trying to improve.”
Roger Federer’s exhibition set against Andy Roddick on Tuesday night has also been got well over one million views on YouTube, confirming the Swiss maestro still has huge pulling power four years after his retirement.
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