ALEXANDRA “Alex” Eala expressed her gratitude to the Filipinos who came in droves to the Sobeys Stadium, acknowledging the “Barangay Toronto” it has become at the WTA 1000 National Bank Open in Canada.
All of Eala’s matches drew sold-out crowds, thanks to the Filipino fans who filled the 12,500-seater arena and brought an inter-barangay basketball league atmosphere to the tennis matches.
“Saya pala dito sa barangay Toronto (Turns out it’s fun here in Barangay Toronto),” wrote Eala in an Instagram post Tuesday night.
Eala captioned a slew of photos featuring her in action, with coach Joan Bosch, with doubles partner Venus Williams, Filipino fans in the stands, and even a video of the blue dinosaur superfan.
“Difficult to put into words but very easy to be grateful for you all. Feeling the love in ways that I will probably only fully appreciate later. Thank you for allowing me to experience beyond what I know. I am quite the lucky one,” said Eala.
Eala’s Toronto campaign ended last Monday after falling to Swiss Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, 4-6, 0-6.
Seeded No. 25 in the tournament with a first-round bye, Eala started her campaign with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win over American Alycia Parks in the second round (round of 64).
World No. 20 Eala topped another American, Caty McNally, in the third round (round of 32), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, before falling to Bencic.
In doubles, Eala and Williams fell to the Russian-Japanese duo of Liudmila Samsonova and Miyu Kato, 4-6, 3-6, in the first round.
The 21-year-old Eala earned $89,700, or more than P5.4 million, in prize money from her singles fourth-round finish and doubles first-round appearance.
Eala will compete in another 1000-tier competition at the Cincinnati Open in Ohio, where she is the No. 17 seed with another first-round bye.
She will face the winner between world No. 77 Ruse and No. 68 Linette, who clash in the first round likely on Thursday.
Eala will tentatively begin her campaign on Friday in the round of 64.
Eala has faced Ruse and Linette already, holding a 0-1 head-to-head record against the Romanian and a 2-2 record against the Polish player.
Eala fell to Ruse at the 2024 US Open third round qualifiers, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6.
Meanwhile, Eala yielded to Linette in their first two encounters — 0-6, 2-6, at the 2024 Abu Dhabi round of 32 and 4-6, 3-6 at the 2025 Nottingham Open round of 32.
The lefty netter won the last two: 6-3, 6-2 at the ASB Classic quarterfinal last January and 6–3, 7–6(2) at the Miami Open round of 32 last March.
