Alexandra Eala mania has arrived in Toronto.
“She’s such an unheard of fan favourite,” said National Bank Open tournament director Karl Hale, who has been in the role for 20 years. “Something we’ve never seen before.”
When the tournament announced that the 21-year-old from the Philippines was scheduled for Wednesday night, the tickets sold out in 30 minutes. A crowd of 10,077 fans is expected to greet the rising star when she takes the court inside Sobeys Stadium.
“I’ve been told that it’s going to be a full house, so I’m really very excited to see and experience the atmosphere,” Eala said in a news conference upon arriving in Toronto on Tuesday.
“It’s nice to see, you know, that the Filipino community is really showing up and they’re enjoying tennis, and hopefully it will help grow the sport as well. You know, in the end, I hope to give them something, a new experience and a joyful experience.”
After upsetting defending champion Iga Swiatek and reaching the round of 16 at Wimbledon, Eala received a citation from her country’s President, Ferdinand (Bongbong) Marcos Jr., at Malacanang Palace. On Monday, she achieved a new milestone by winning the Washington Open, becoming the first champion from the Philippines in WTA Tour history.
Eala has captivated a country hungry for sports stars and now Toronto’s large Filipino community is ready to keep the party going.
“It’s incredible,” marvelled Hale. “It’s something I’ve never seen before and we’ve never seen before at the tournament. We’ve seen a lot of fans from various countries and you see hundreds of fans for Romania or even [Monday] night hundreds of Turkish fans for Zeynep Sonmez or [Tuesday] with Iga, hundreds of Polish fans for that. This is thousands.”
On Tuesday, the tournament awarded its final doubles wildcard to Eala and 46-year-old legend Venus Williams. That team will debut on Thursday night at Centre Court.
“Venus told us she wanted to play with Eala,” Hale said. “It’s the first time we’ve done a doubles match on Centre Court this early in the tournament for decades.”
The last time Hale recalled a doubles match getting this type of treatment was back in 2010 when young Canadian hopes Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil teamed up to defeat Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who were the top two players in the singles rankings at the time.
Eala is even impacting what is being served up off the court this year in Toronto, with chicken adobo added to the menu on the grounds at York University.
“It’s the first time we’ve actually changed the menu,” Hale confirmed. “We wanted to add some Filipino offerings at the Food Court.”
Eala lost in the first round last year in Montreal when she debuted at Canada’s only 1,000-level event, which alternates between Toronto and Montreal each season.
Before Eala, who is now up to No. 20 in the rankings, steps on court to face American Alycia Parks on Wednesday night, Canada’s only seeded player in Toronto will get her campaign underway as Leylah Annie Fernandez, whose mother is of Filipino descent, takes on Mexico’s Renata Zarazua at 7 p.m.
“The louder it is the better it is,” said dad and coach Jorge Fernandez. “I hope that energy is going to give her the confidence she needs to turn her season around.”
Fernandez lost to Eala in the second round in Washington last week and is now 13-20 on the season. She has fallen to No. 34 in the WTA rankings after starting the year at 22.
The Toronto fans should offer the 23-year-old a boost and a new coach may also provide a spark. This will be the second tournament with Eric Hechtman on board.
“It’s been great to put in a lot of time here and we’ll see what she can do in front of the home fans,” Hechtman said. “You don’t know which way it’s going to go because there’s a lot of pressure playing here, but hopefully the fans can carry her through.”
Jorge will still be coaching his daughter, but is planning to spend more time moving forward with younger daughter Bianca Jolie Fernandez and Jaden Weekes, who is another young Canadian.
The Fernandez team has been looking to add a coach for years.
“It’s not easy to find someone that brings not only the knowledge and the experience, but also the chemistry to work with the team,” said Jorge.
Hechtman previously worked with Venus and Serena Williams and served as a hitting partner for Roger Federer and Nadal.
“Leylah’s such a fighter and she’s a great athlete, so when you have those two, it’s exciting to see what we can do,” Hechtman said. “I think our philosophies are very similar, very competitive. We want to accomplish a lot.”
It’s a perfect fit geographically as well with both the Fernandez family and Hechtman both based in Miami.
“Eric brings a wealth of experience, great anecdotes that we can use ourselves and really put it into our own brand of tennis, and when we come back to Miami we have a place to train with him,” Jorge noted. “He’s based out of Miami, so we can always keep the same momentum going.”
Hechtman is determined to help get the 2021 US Open finalist back into contention at majors.
“Our goal, me coming in, is to help them get to the next stage and win a slam,” he said.
What is the focus?
“There’s a lot of different things,” Hechtman said. “Working on her mind and different pieces of her game, but she’s got what it takes. I’m not going to reveal it all, but we’re going to try and get her there.”
The practice sessions have been promising.
“She’s very close to getting into one of her runs,” Jorge said. “Hopefully we can finish the year off strong starting here.”
Fernandez is making her seventh main draw appearance at the National Bank Open with her best result coming in 2023 when she made the round of 16 in Montreal.
