Eala-Mania in Toronto exceeds expectations as attendance records shattered

It is guaranteed that wherever Alexandra Eala will be playing, there will be queues going as far as you can see to get a glimpse of the 21-year-old. Her passionate supporters have been well-documented following Eala's short time on the WTA Tour, and it is most certainly making an impact with the 2026 Canadian Open in Toronto smashing their record books.

The Philippines have gone tennis crazy since Eala stormed onto the big stage. Her gradual rise has been followed by many with numerous tennis fans touting her as a future elite player who could challenge for the biggest titles.

The hype is most certainly real, with her performances on court backing it up. The most significant coming at the DC Open, where Eala broke new ground. Wins over Zheng Qonwen, Leylah Fernandez, Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka and the No.1 seed Jessica Pegula in the final sealed a maiden WTA title in majestic fashion.

This news spread like wildfire, with even more people finding out about her. The Canadian Open was the next tournament and would benefit hugely from this. Thousands flocked towards Toronto, where the WTA event was taking place.

Eala put on a show, continuing her fine form. She took down American duo Alycia Parks and Caty McNally in three sets before running out of steam against Belinda Bencic in the last-16, losing the last eight games.

The impact had already been felt at this point. The tournament director, Karl Hale, went on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast and was overjoyed to announce the numbers that Eala pulled in, making this the most successful Canadian Open in terms of attendance figures.

“I think the state of the game in Canada has seen tremendous gains over the past 15 years," he said. "And this summer was really transformative for us and for me personally, because our tournament, the women’s event, was our most successful event in Toronto, period, men or women. It was just fantastic."

He stated the final numbers. “We did over 215,000 fans, which is essentially the same as the men last year. Sold-out crowds, Eala was incredible, but it wasn’t just Eala. So what we’ve seen in Canada over the past 15 years is that, in the past, we didn’t have stars.

“We had a few sprinkle of players here and there but what’s happened since Genie [Bouchard] and Milos [Raonic] and Vasek [Pospisil] and Vicky [Mboko] and with Felix [Auger-Aliassime] and all these players is now we have Canadian stars for essentially two decades that have penetrated the social fabric of Canada."

The sport is most certainly growing in that part of the world, with prior global events very much in the past. “So the result, along with a little COVID bump, is the sport’s grown from three million to six million players in our country. It’s now the number three most-participated sport in our country. So we’re seeing a lot more people interested in the sport in Canada, which has really helped the tournament grow and grow and grow. So the sport is doing really well.”

The Eala effect was paramount, but that was not the only thing. Many fans offering feedback were glowing with praise for the tournament, leading Hale to dazzle at the reviews.

“Our tournament was the most successful. I’ve never seen anything like it," he continued. "It was just huge numbers. Our surveys were incredible. The fans loved it. We had the most first-time visitors we’ve ever had at our tournament, largely due to Eala and her fandom that happened during the tournament.

“But overall as a tournament, we saw tremendous success, great energy, great atmosphere on the site. We’re really happy with it, and our fans are really happy.”